Down the Line
by ScarlettMae
Summary: Dani runs her own café in Charming. How will the madness that comes with the Sons of Anarchy influence her life and can she find balance between what she loves and who she loves? Jax/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Dani unlocked the door, gently pushing it open since the door was hanging loosely in its hinges. It had been like that since a few weeks, but she hadn't gotten around to repairing it. She felt something underneath her feet. Her eyes fell on the ground, noticing the mail piling up on the floor. Her little café had been closed for the holidays, and she didn't want to ruin the holiday cheer by looking at her bills so she placed them by the rest of them in the office, telling herself she would look at them next week.

Dani had inherited the little café when her father had died. It had always been her dream to go to university and study journalism, but the sudden death of her father had caught her by surprise and she couldn't bring herself to sell the café. Much of her childhood she had spent drinking milk while drawing pictures at the bar, talking with the regular customers and when she became sixteen she even started working there. While all her friends went to the big city to chase after their dreams, Dani stayed behind to fulfill her fathers dream.

Managing the café by herself was hard, and it wasn't long before Dani hired staff to help her cope with the pressure. The people of Charming had been kind to her as she was trying to get the café back on track, helping her out whenever help was needed.

Dani sighed when she saw her café. There was something soothing about your own business in the morning sun. As she was not expecting a busy day, Dani had the café to herself today. Occasionally she enjoyed the peace and quiet of working alone, but on busy days she was glad when she had someone there to help her. She did the financial side of the business by herself, after doing a course at the nearest college she could manage it easily.

She always started off the day by brewing some fresh coffee, more for herself than for her customers. Even though Starbucks was getting more and more popular, their coffee was nothing compared to hers. After her coffee she checked the inventory, but due to them being closed for the weekend because of the holidays, she still had plenty of everything left.

Dani nodded in content. Even though the journey had been hard, she prided herself in keeping the café in such good shape. Never ever had she considered selling it in the past ten years she ran it, and never ever would she. The café was part of her now, as it was part of her father.

Customers were already lining up outside when she opened the door, all wanting her coffee to start off the day. Dani hoped it would stay at that, as she doubted she could handle more people than the ones lining up at her door. Maybe it wouldn't be as quiet as she had anticipated.

"Good morning," she greeted her customers happily. Some of them had been visiting the café for as long as it had been there, and Dani was very glad the town supported her so much. Especially the local MC, Sons of Anarchy had been great. Dani has known Jax Teller, their VP, since high school and she had to admit she had always had a major crush on him. Back in the day it had looked like they were getting together, but then her father died and she needed to process that before she got into anything with him. However during that time he had gotten together with Tara Knowles and after she left to study medicine with Wendy Case. Dani still remembered how bad she had felt when she heard Jax and Wendy had gotten married, and how happy she was when they got a divorce, but she never dared to tell him that.

Dani especially looked up to Gemma, who had become a mother figure to her. Her mother had died in an accident when she was very young, so she couldn't remember anything of it, but in the meantime Gemma had been there for her.

It wasn't until after lunch hour when everything quieted down again and Dani had time to quickly go to the bathroom. She just managed on her own, but luckily the busiest part of the day had already passed since she didn't serve dinner.

The café was completely empty when a customer she had never seen before entered. Most of the time it meant they were tourists, as she knew all of her regular customers by their name. Dani put down the cloth she used to dust off the tables and wiped her hands clean on her apron. "Can I help you?" she asked, studying the guy.

He was mid-aged, tall and quite handsome. His hair was slicked back and his expensive looking grey suit brought out the green in his eyes. Dani knew she hadn't seen him in Charming before, but she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here, in her café.

The guy extended his arm, offering her his hand. Dani didn't trust him, but found it wasn't polite to reject it. She shook his hand, never letting go of his gaze while praying another customer would come in soon, as this guy was definitely not a tourist.

"I'm Harrison Lewis," he spoke, letting go of her hand.

"Can I help you?" Dani asked again. She leaned to the side to rest against the bar. Mr. Lewis didn't look like he was here for a cup of coffee.

"As the matter of fact, yes," Harrison said. He ran his fingers through his slicked back dark blonde hair. "This is a nice place you got here."

"Thanks," Dani replied, furrowing her brows.

"You run it by yourself?" Harrison slid his finger across the bar as if he was examining it for dust.

"Yeah," Dani said, getting impatient. "Look, just get to the point. What do you want?" She had no time for this. She still had to do the books for the week and bake a cake if time allowed it. Work had to be done.

Harrison raised his eyebrows, probably not expecting her snarky remark. "Okay…" he started. "Well, I want to buy it."

"It's not for sale," Dani immediately fired back.

"You haven't heard my offer," Harrison flashed her a smile, but she wasn't falling for it. People often tried to buy her café, wanting to turn it into an apartment block or a mall, but never would she sell her father's café.

"I don't need to hear it. I will not sell it," Dani grabbed the piece of cloth she was cleaning the tables with again and started to dust of the bar, hoping he would take the hint.

"Very well, then," Harrison said. "I'll talk to you soon." She wasn't sure what that meant, but she figured he would come back with an even better deal. Even if they were offering her millions, she couldn't sell the place. The sentimental value too big.

She didn't reply as she watched him leave the café, Jax Teller entering at the same time. The two men looked at each other while one of them left and the other entered. Dani was glad they didn't exchange words, as she didn't feel like dealing with them fighting.

"Who's that guy?" Jax nodded, sliding on a barstool.

Dani shook her head, grabbing a cup to fill it with coffee. "No one," she said while focusing on pouring the coffee in the cup, trying not to spill it. "He wanted to buy the café."

"You said no, I hope?" Jax replied. He smiled softly as she handed him his coffee. Taking a sip from it eagerly.

"Of course!" Dani said. "You know I would never sell this place."

"Do you want me to look into him?" he asked.

Dani shook her head. She didn't want to involve SAMCRO in her business. Besides, they would probably make it worse than it was. She figured Harrison would come back maybe once or twice, trying to convince her, but if she stood her ground he would disappear sooner or later. They could hardly kick her out of her own place, could they?

"Don't worry about. If he comes back I'll make sure he won't come back a third time."

"I don't doubt it," Jax laughed.

Dani moved behind the bar and stood opposite of Jax, resting her hands on the counter, slightly leaning. Being orphaned on a young age taught her to be strong. Dani was never one to let someone just waltz over her.

"Are you coming to the clubhouse tonight?"

Dani smirked. She had been to quite a few of SAMCRO's parties, and the thought of them already made her smile. Their parties were definitely the best ones, as they always got out of hand. Dani wasn't a big drinker herself, but she loved watching everyone around her. All the guys being pissed, and the women trying to grab their attention.

"Not sure, still have a lot of work to do here," she replied honestly. As much as she wanted to come, the café was her first priority, and with no one to cover her, she had no choice.

"Get someone to cover you, you're the boss," Jax replied.

"There is no one else. I gave them all the week off," Dani replied.

"Try to come, I'd love to have you there. Besides, it will probably go on until tomorrow morning so you don't really have an excuse."

Dani cocked her head, smiling. The only person who could persuade her to do anything was Jackson Teller. Never could she resist his smile, the way he talked. She knew this was dangerous, but she couldn't help herself.

"Is Wendy coming?" she asked out of nowhere. Wendy had blamed her for her divorce with Jax, although this time it was hardly her fault. There was tension between her and him, but if one thing was against her principles, it was cheating. Nothing had happened between them during his marriage with Wendy, yet she still blamed her. Dani figured Wendy blamed her just so she had someone else to blame but herself, and things hadn't been great between them since then. She knew once Wendy saw her at the clubhouse, things could not be kept civil.

"You know she's not," he replied. Jax took one final sip, placing the mug back on the counter to slide it towards her.

"Then I _might_ come," she teased. Dani knew she would probably go after work, as she hadn't seen Gemma in some time and there was no better way to end the day then by drinking an ice cold beer with her friends.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for reading the first chapter of this story! I've been wanting this story for some time now and finally found the time to do it. Please review to let me know what you think. Hopefully I'll see you next time! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Wanting to get out of the café as soon as possible to get that Harrison guy off her mind, Dani tried to finish up as quickly as possible. Because they had been closed a lot during the holidays, the books were done in an hour. After Jax left, only a couple more customers had come in, so she kept the café clean in the meantime. She still had to bake a cake for the following day, but luckily the cake had a basic and simple recipe, and after having it done a million times she had prepared it in just fifteen minutes.

While the cake was in the oven, Dani changed out of her work clothes and put on a pair of jeans and a simple white tee. She left her hair in a ponytail after seeing it didn't look half bad. The cake was just ready when she was finished reapplying her makeup. The smell of cinnamon welcomed her as she entered the kitchen. Fresh baked goods always made her feel right at home.

Carefully, she got the cake out of the oven, covered it with aluminum foil and placed it in a glass container so it wouldn't spoil overnight. Dani couldn't wait to grab a slice of it, but told herself to wait until the next morning.

It wasn't that late when she closed the door of her café behind her, locking it carefully. Before she turned away she checked once more if she had locked it properly and if all the lights were off. She nodded in content and turned towards her car, ready to spend the rest of the evening at SAMCRO's clubhouse.

With the money she earned in the café she had saved up for her own car. Even though Charming wasn't a big town, a car was still handy to get from one place to the other, especially if you have to transport all kinds of cakes and cookies to sell in the café. Jax had advised her on what car to buy, and she had trusted his judgment. Dani knew a lot about running a business, but cars were not her forte. Luckily for her, the truck had run smoothly ever since she bought it.

The party was already in full swing when Dani arrived. She had managed to find a parking spot between all the motorcycles and other cars. By the looks of it, not only SAMCRO, but also SAMTEZ and other charters were in the house. Dani had already spotted Gemma's Cadillac in the back of the lot.

Music was blaring inside and smoke had filled up the room when she stepped inside. She noticed various girls from the local porn studio CaraCara dancing around. Dani never paid much attention to them and they didn't pay much attention to her.

"Hey," she greeted Gemma, once she had found her sitting at the bar.

"How are you doing, darling?" Gemma embraced her in a hug.

"Doing good," Dani smiled, sitting down next to her.

"Jax is in the back, if you want to see him."

"I'll talk to him later."

Gemma raised her eyebrows. "Whatever you say, darling."

Dani knew Gemma wanted her and Jax to be together, she had told her that many times. Apparently she was to be trusted, while all the other girls who he had been with weren't. Dani never admitted to her she wanted to be with Jax as well. Sometimes she wondered how her life would have been if she and Jax had gotten together when they were still in high school, but then she told herself there was no point in asking herself 'what if?'

Half-Sack handed her a beer. She nodded at him gratefully, always feeling a little sorry for the prospects of the club. Being a prospect was no easy thing, but it was something you had to go through if you wanted to be a part of the club.

"Where are all the guys?" Dani asked.

"Probably face down in pussy," Gemma remarked.

Dani snickered, as it was probably true. The first time she had attended a SAMCRO party, she had promised herself to never be one of the croweaters who would do just about anything to get the attention of patched members of the club.

"There you have Jax," Gemma nodded towards Jax coming from the back of the clubhouse, closely followed by one of the CaraCara girls. Dani remembered her name to be Ima.

She raised her eyebrows upon the sight, and turned around when she gave him a kiss. Jax didn't have any responsibilities towards her, but she still hated seeing him with someone else. Dani knew she was being egoistical, but she couldn't help or deny her feelings. During her life she had always been outspoken, except when it came to love.

"Hate that bitch," Gemma said, also seeing Ima kissing Jax.

"Me too," Dani agreed mumbling.

Jax recognized her sitting next to Gemma and made his way over, leaving Ima behind. Dani had never been a particular fan of Ima, but then again Ima liked no one who remotely even looked at Jax.

"Couldn't stay away?" Jax smiled when he approached her. He placed his hand on her waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Dani tried her best not to blush. He always behaved a lot more affectionate when he was drinking alcohol.

"She has to keep an eye on you when I'm not around," Gemma said. She gave Dani a soft tap on her shoulder. "I'm going to find Clay."

"Can't stay too late, though," Dani said, trying to change the subject. "Have to open up again tomorrow."

"Good," Jax nodded. "I think we all need coffee for our hangover tomorrow."

Dani laughed, looking around the place. "What would I do without your business?"

"Selling the café to wealthy business men, I guess."

* * *

Dani tried to stay as long as she could, as she was having a great time. She really enjoyed talking to Jax and Half-Sack, but eventually she had to go. Once she said goodbye to Half-Sack and Gemma, she started looking for Jax, wanting to let him know she was leaving.

She found him sitting on the couch with Ima. Dani completely ignored her as she spoke to him, not even acknowledging she was there until she spoke to her.

"Uhm, sweetie, me and Jax were talking?" Ima interrupted, the tone or her words very annoyed.

"And _I_ wasn't talking to _you_," Dani spat back. She shifted her gaze from Ima to Jax. "I'm heading home."

"You want me to take you?" Jax asked, standing up to face her.

"She can go by herself," Ima spoke, remaining seated.

Dani ignored her. "No it's fine. You have drank too much to take me anyway."

"That's true," Jax nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see ya."

Dani gave his hand a gentle squeeze before she went.

* * *

Like he had promised, Jax entered the café the following morning, followed by the rest of SAMCRO. By the looks of it, they all had a rough night and soon enough Dani had provided them all with coffee, slightly chuckling when she saw them struggle to keep sitting up straight.

"I guess you can say the party was a success?" Dani laughed, facing Jax.

"Yeah," he nodded.

Dani moved from behind the bar to the other customers, giving them a refill of coffee. "Here you go, Chief," she told Unser while she was filling up his cup. Sometimes it was strange to see an outlaw biker gang sitting in the same café as a cop, but in Charming it was all possible.

As she was about to turn to her next customer, something outside caught her attention. Dani narrowed her eyes when she saw the guy from the day before standing outside. He had extended his arm to open the door, but it looked like he had spotted the Sons sitting inside. Dani followed him closely as he retracted his arm, before slowly turning around.

She didn't think he had been serious about coming back with another offer, yet here he was. Dani turned her head to look at the Sons sitting on her bar. It looked like Tig had fallen asleep and Chibs was playing with a napkin. Should she tell Jax the guy was just in front of the café? Harrison was clearly intimidated by SAMCRO, that seemed obvious. Dani shook her head, telling herself the Sons had probably scared him off for good.

Juice was looking particularly miserable, so Dani decided to give him an aspirin to help with the headache. She smiled softly as she patted him on the head while giving it. "Thanks," Juice told her.

"You looked like you needed it," she replied.

Juice was probably one of her favorite Sons. They were all always very nice to her, always willing to help, but she had warmed up to Juice more than to anyone. Well, except for Jax of course. Dani had fond memories with him, her most favorite when Juice helped her out with the dishes when she had her hands full with the customers. She had laughed so hard the entire day, seeing him in his cut standing behind the sink, cleaning pink and yellow plates, soap everywhere.

"We gotta go," Clay said, roughly swinging open the door. Dani held her breath when it hit a chair, but it looked like nothing was damaged.

Jax gave him the nod, asking what was going on.

"Something with the Mayans."

That caught all their attention and before she knew it, they were all out of her café, Juice telling her goodbye before he disappeared.

Dani didn't know much about club business. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know and it wasn't in her right to know. Some members told their old ladies some of the stuff that was going on, but she wasn't an old lady. The things she did know was that SAMCRO definitely dealt with illegal activities and they had an ongoing rivalry with the Mayans.

She had her colleague Madison on standby all day, but it never got really busy so Dani ended up sending her home. She always liked to finish up by herself, making sure everything was done the exact way she wanted it.

The door opened, causing Dani to stand up as she was crouched behind the bar, cleaning up spilled sprinkles she tried to put on a kid's ice-cream. "We're closed," she said. She could remember changing the sign outside from 'open' to 'closed', but she must have forgotten to lock it properly.

"I saw you hired yourself some bodyguards." Harrison appeared in the doorway, behind him were two guys, their faces covered with black ski-masks. It wasn't until she saw one had a baseball bat when she started to slightly panic.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, thank you so much for all the responses, please keep 'em coming! I can't make any promises as to when the next chapter will be up, since I have midterms (oops), but it'll probably be up in the next few days!


	3. Chapter 3

"I didn't…?" she started to mumble. "I didn't hire any bodyguards? I don't know what you mean?"

Harrison took a step forward, getting closer to her. Dani was very glad there was a bar between him and her, separating them. "You know exactly what I mean. The Sons."

Dani had been right, Harrison _was_ intimidated by the Sons. Had he waited the entire day to make sure they had left to come back to threaten her?

"They are not my bodyguards. They're customers," she tried to explain.

Harrison raised his eyebrows and turned to his men. "Make sure she'll accept my offer next time I'm here."

The men nodded. Dani shifted her gaze from the thugs to Harrison, who seemed to be heading for the door. Was he leaving already? The whole situation was confusing her. What was his plan? Before he left the café, Harrison seemed to remember something. "Oh, and Dani? The Sons are not able to protect you."

Dani focused on his men again, not sure what his words meant. But it wasn't long until she found out.

The guy with the bat turned around and swung it hard at one of the tables, the glass breaking in a million pieces, before moving to the next one, smashing it as well.

She gasped, and sprung backwards when the other one jumped over the bar towards her. "Stop," she tried to say. "Stop!"

But the men had a mission and that mission was to scare her. While the one with the bat was busy with ruining everything she had worked for, the other one was busy with ruining her face. Dani tried to protect herself by moving her hands in front of her face. But the blows still managed to get around them. However that didn't matter. It wasn't necessarily the pain that hurt, it was seeing her café get smashed to ruins.

"Stop," she managed to say. "Please."

His fists collided with her face multiple times. She tried kicking him with her feet, but he didn't even seemed to notice her tries.

"We've scared her enough," the baseball bat guy said, after what felt a year. "Let's go."

The guy punched her one last time before standing up. "Want to avoid this next time? Take his offer."

Once she heard the door shut, it felt like she was finally able to breathe again. Dani pushed herself up to sit against the bar, scared to stand up to see what the damage was to her café. Blood was trickling down her cheek, creating a small puddle on the ground. With her fingers she tried feeling her face, but it hurt upon touching it. Carefully she pushed herself up, avoiding the mirrored wall behind her, not wanting to see what she looked like.

She gasped when she saw her café in complete ruin. All the tables and chairs had been smashed to pieces. The lamp hanging on the ceiling had come down. The paintings she had collected over the years all hung askew. There was not a cup or plate left untouched. Dani had met various people who wanted to buy her place, but never had she ever met someone as serious as Harrison was.

Her hands trembling, she retrieved the phone she always kept under the cash register and dialed 911.

* * *

The knock on the door made her jump. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Jax and the rest of the guys standing in front of her café. The entire morning had she been busy with trying to clean up the place, but a lot of stuff couldn't be saved and had to be replaced.

Dani opened the door for them, unlocking it. She hadn't felt safe ever since the attack and she had created a habit out of locking the door every time someone came inside or went outside. It gave her a little more piece of mind, even though there was an army of policemen standing in front of her café. After her call they had come to her quickly, accompanied with an ambulance, ready to patch her. Because of the lack of camera's in her café, there was no way they would be able to identify the thugs who ruined everything. However she did give them a good description of Harrison, who hadn't bothered to hide his face. Dani knew the police were trying their best to find him, but she suspected he would be long gone by now, already planning when to come back.

"Jesus Christ," Jax said upon seeing the wreck that was once her face.

"I look hot, huh?" Dani tried to joke. Her face was a bruised mess and a few tiny cuts covered her right cheek, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal.

"You should've called me," Jax said, his eyes scanning the place.

"I wasn't exactly in a position to call anyone," Dani said. She picked up another piece of a broken plate and put it in the garbage.

"Was this the same guy that came in before?"

Dani nodded. Juice started to help her pick up things while Chibs and Half-Sack talked to the cops.

"We'll hurt him for it," Juice said.

"Don't bother, it's nothing," Dani said. She didn't want to bring SAMCRO into this, still remembering Harrison's words. They would probably make it worse than it already was. She would endure, she always would.

"We won't forget this, Dani," Jax said. "Nobody touches anyone in Charming without our consent."

How could she have expected anything else? Of course Jax would do anything to protect her, and she loved him for that, but she couldn't forgive herself if he or any of the other Sons got hurt because of her.

"Someone can stay here at all times?" Juice suggested.

"No," she tried to object, but they weren't having any of it.

Jax took her hands into his, forcing her to look at him. "Dani, listen to me. This guy is not coming back to hurt you again, we'll make sure of it. I don't know who he is, but it not welcome in Charming."

Dani nodded slightly. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt…"

"No one will get hurt. They don't stand a chance against us," Jax said confident and Dani couldn't help but to believe him.

* * *

"Here you go, sweetie," Gemma placed a cup of piping hot tea in front of her. Dani had finished up with the guys in the store, emptying all the trash before Gemma picked her up for dinner. Jax would be joining them later.

"Thanks," Dani smiled faintly as her face began to hurt more and more. Gemma told her she had some kind of stuff that would help with the bruising and the cuts.

"Can't believe someone came in and just did that do you," she spoke, referring to Dani's face.

"It's my own fault. I didn't take the guy serious. He certainly made his point now." She took a sip from her tea, letting the liquid warm her body. She had slept horribly the night before, being in constant fear of the guy coming to her house in the middle of the night. But nobody had come, and it looked like the threat was over, for now. She had thought about calling Jax, but she decided against it as she didn't want to trouble him with her problems.

"You did what you could do. He won't try it a second time. Not in our town."

Gemma's words reassured her even more that everything was going to be alright. Dani couldn't imagine ever moving to somewhere else. Everybody in Charming cared about each other, that's what made it so great.

They had already carved into their dinner when Jax came home. Dani felt butterflies in her stomach when she laid her eyes in him, an emotion that surprised her. She had had a crush on him for god knows how long, but she never showed it. Dani could only hope she wasn't blushing.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized, sliding on the seat next to her. "Had to finish up a couple of things with Clay. He'll be home later tonight."

Gemma nodded. "Problems?"

"I would tell you if there was, ma," Jax replied, while taking a piece of steak from the plate in the middle of the table, diving into it eagerly.

* * *

Dani had stayed longer than she had anticipated, but anything to keep her from having to go to sleep was very welcome at the moment. Sometimes images of the incident flashed through her mind, and she could already imagine the nightmares she was going to have if she would ever fall asleep.

"I can take you home?" Jax offered when he heard his mother say she would take Dani home.

"That alright with you?" Gemma asked Dani, who nodded in response. It didn't really matter who brought her home, and besides, the more time she could spend with Jax, the better. "Make sure she's wearing a helmet. Don't want to bruise up your face any more." She gave Dani a kiss before sending her on her way with Jax.

Dani had always loved riding with someone on a bike. She never rode herself, being slightly scared of it, but seated behind someone with your arms wrapped around them was amazing. With the wind in your hair you felt untouchable.

"Of course," Jax replied, giving Dani a wink. "Let's go."

She followed him outside and waited besides his bike. Jax had retrieved a second helmet from the garage. "It's been a long time since we have done this," he said, handing it to her.

"Yeah, " Dani nodded, placing the helmet on her head. "I missed it."

Jax sat on the bike first, pulling it up straight. Dani swung her leg over the bike, placing herself tightly behind him, his body feeling warm against hers. She remembered how to and where to place her hands and moved her head to the side so she could look over his shoulder. "You ready?" he asked her.

"Yes!" she said loudly so he could hear her over the engine of the bike.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow! Thank you so much for the amazing responses this far. Please review and thank you for reading! I gotta feeling you're going to like the chapter that comes after this one ;) I'll see you in a couple of days! Take care :)


	4. Chapter 4

"Thank you for bringing me home," Dani said, taking off her helmet to give it to Jax again so he could take it back home.

"No problem, darling," he smiled. He also got off the bike to walk her to her front door. Dani was pretty sure she could cover the short distance by herself, but she appreciated the gesture. It seemed like he really meant he was never going to let Harrison hurt her again.

Dani unlocked the door, but instead of going in she turned around and remained standing in the doorway close to Jax. He rested his hand on the side of the doorpost, leaning forward slightly.

She couldn't stop herself. Before she knew it she moved her head towards him, pressing her body as well as her lips against his. His hand moved from the doorpost to the small of her back, embracing her. Dani couldn't even remember the last time they had done this, but she he wished she had done it so much sooner.

Jax was very gentle with her, minding her bruised faced at all times. Dani didn't even notice the pain. When she broke off the kiss she spoke softly. "Will you please stay with me tonight?"

Jax nodded. "Of course," he said before continuing to kiss her. He softly pushed her inside, grabbing the keys from her hand to lock the door behind them. In the meantime Dani took off her jacket and slipped out of her converse sneakers.

Dani wasn't sure if she really didn't want to be alone tonight, or if she wanted this with Jax to happen. Her emotions were all over the place. She had loved Jax for the bigger part of her life, and him kissing her back was her confirmation he felt the same.

She deepened their kiss, while she pushed him towards her bedroom. "Are we really going to do this?" Jax laughed when Dani broke off the kiss to take off her shirt.

"Shut up," she said, not wanting to think about the consequences this could have. She pressed her lips against his again, taking off his cut and shirt. Her hands moved around his neck to keep herself from falling as he pushed her on the bed.

His body felt warm against hers, and her hands couldn't stop roaming his back muscles. Jax moved his head next to her, giving her soft kisses on her neck. Dani couldn't even feel the pain in her face anymore, it was as everything had been swiped away. The only thing that mattered for the moment was her and Jax.

* * *

She was woken up by the sunlight streaming through her blinds. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times before she regained her vision. When she noticed Jax had his arm around her, she dared not to move, not wanting to disrupt the moment. He had his face buried in her hair, his soft breathing the only sound in the room.

Laying as still as possible, she started to study the tattoo on his arm, having always loved that one. Dani didn't have any tattoos of her own, but she loved them on other people. She had thought about getting a crow tattooed somewhere, but she wouldn't know if Jax would like her getting a tattoo which tied her to the club.

Their peaceful moment was disrupted by Jax's phone going off. Dani sighed softly. Of course someone had to come in and ruin the only moment she was going to have with him. The sound woke up Jax as well. "Good morning, babe," he first said before answering the call, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead.

Dani replied with a smile, her eyes wandering to his toned body as he sat up to retrieve his phone from his jeans that was laying on the ground. She did not regret a thing about what they had done, but it didn't stop her from wondering where they would go to from now on. Everyone knew Jax wasn't a stranger to women, but did she mean more to him than the croweaters?

She turned around to lay on her other side to watch Jax call. She wanted to know what all this meant, but she didn't dare to ask. Dani figured sooner or later she would find it out by herself. One thing she did know was Gemma was going to be happy this had happened, as she had always been pushing Dani towards Jax.

"I have to go," Jax said, after putting his phone away. He continued by putting on his jeans.

"Okay," Dani nodded. She knew the club took up a lot of his time, and this wouldn't change if she was with him or not. "I gotta go to the café, anyway"

The idea of cleaning up dreaded her, but she had no choice. Every day her business was closed was another day where she was loosing money, and money was just the thing she needed badly right now. For now, she had only started to look at new furniture, and they appeared to be more expensive then she had initially thought.

"I can send Juice over to help you out?"

Dani nodded. "That would be appreciated."

She had to admit being with Jax had helped her sleep better. For as far as she knew, she didn't even have a nightmare. She wished he could stay with her again tonight, but that would be highly unlikely. _Stop thinking this means something,_ Dani told herself. Jax had been with a lot of women, she wasn't anything different. But the thing was, she _wanted_ to be different.

Jax put on his shirt, putting his cut over it. There was something about a man in leather that was undeniably sexy and Dani couldn't keep her eyes off him. "I'll see you later, okay?" he told her, leaning forward to give her a kiss.

Dani smiled, hoping that wouldn't be the last kiss they had.

* * *

She had to admit she felt much more safe with Juice by her side than by being alone. Harrison's words were not forgotten, but then again she didn't exactly know what he had meant with them. SAMCRO wasn't to be underestimated and regardless, Juice had some fighting skills which she did not possess.

"Just put them there," Dani said, pointing towards a large bag where Juice could put everything that was broken and needed to be thrown away. "Thanks again for staying here."

"No problem," Juice replied, with a smile.

Hearing knocks on the door made her jump, but Juice quickly stood up, his hand on his gun. Dani turned to see it was Gemma. She pushed herself up and went on the unlock the door, quickly locking it again once she was inside.

"Not taking any chances, huh?" Gemma remarked, looking around the place.

Dani shook her head, Harrison and the other guys entering her shop without her noticing still freshly in her mind. She would lock the door until Harrison would leave Charming for good, and she had no idea when that was going to be.

"How was your night with Jax," she then asked out of nowhere. Dani raised her eyebrows in surprise. Was there anything Gemma did not know?

"What night?" she tried to dodge the subject. Talking about her love life in detail wasn't one of her strong points.

"Don't deny it, I saw his bike when I drove by," Gemma continued. "I was checking if you were alright. Which you was, seeing as his bike was in the driveway. Did he sleep over?"

Dani shifted her gaze from Gemma to Juice, who stood by listening to their conversation, a smirk covering his face. She went back from him to Gemma. "Yes…," she said carefully.

Gemma nodded in content. "Good. He needs to spend more time with you instead of those CaraCara whores."

Dani agreed with that. She hated the girls that threw themselves at him, or any Son for that matter, in the hope of becoming an old lady one day while everyone knew they didn't stand a chance. It wasn't Dani's dream to be an old lady, she wanted to be with Jax, and old lady came with that package, whether she liked it or not. Sons of Anarchy was a part of Jax, and if she wanted to be a part of him, the club had to also become a part of her.

"But that wasn't why I'm here."

That caught Dani's attention. She wondered what Gemma had found out now. There was seriously no going past her in Charming. She seemed to know everyone and everything, and Dani wondered how she did it.

"I want to organize a fundraiser for your café. I know you have to buy a lot of new things and these things are expensive. Let me help you out."

Fundraisers had always been Gemma's thing. They were the perfect opportunity to raise some money for charity plus they were great to show off SAMCRO's good side. And no one could say no to a good party. Dani was flattered Gemma would organize one especially for her.

"Really?" she replied, her eyes growing wider. A fundraiser would solve all her money problems.

"Yeah," Gemma said, taking a step forward, placing a kiss on her lips before leaning back against the bar again. "Anything for my family."

* * *

**A/N:** Woohoo! Another chapter :D I can't promise when the next one will be up because of school and stuff, but definitely before Saturday, I promise.

Anyway, this story will follow some of the season storylines (except those of Tara of course). I'll probably change some things, though. As for now the story is set pre-season 1, as you might've guessed. So thanks for reading and please, please, please, leave a review :D Bye!


	5. Chapter 5

In the afternoon Jax dropped by to see how they were doing. Dani expected it to become awkward, but it was far from it. Casually he had given her a kiss, his hand on her hip, before talking to Juice about the business he had attended to in the morning.

Dani and Juice had cleared up everything, leaving an almost empty café behind. The only thing that remained was the bar, a few cups that weren't broken and a couple of chairs. The rest was all gone. She had hung a sign on the door, letting her customers know it would be a while before she opened again. They had told her how bad they felt about the incident, but she doubted any of them knew how much pain the destruction of her café had caused her personally.

"I'll put this in the back," Juice said, taking the final trash bag they had. Dani nodded, before turning around to face Jax again.

And then she saw him standing there. His hand was on the door, but because it was locked, it wouldn't open. Dani held her breath when she saw him taking a step back, looking her straight in the eye.

"Jax…," she said softly, nodding towards Harrison standing on the other side of the door. He moved his body and she saw him clenching his fists when he saw who she was referring to.

"Is that him?" he asked her just to be sure, anger clearly rising.

"Yeah," Dani nodded. "I locked the door…" But it was already too late. Jax had grabbed the keys of the bar, taking angry strides towards the door, unlocking it and bursting it open.

"We're closed," he told him.

Dani followed Jax and tried to jump in front of him, but he pushed her back behind him. Helplessly, Dani looked behind her, seeing Juice had emerged from the back, also jumping forward to join Jax.

"I can see that," Harrison said with a smug on his face. She studied him closely, watching his every move. She knew he was enjoying this. He loved to see what he had ordered to have turned out so well. The café was a ruin, just like was planned. "You're face doesn't look too good."

"Shut the fuck up," Dani exploded. She wasn't going to stand there and be ridiculed.

"I suggest you leave now," Jax said. "This doesn't have to get complicated."

"Oh, but I actually wanted to talk about a business proposal with Dani," he continued, as if nothing was wrong.

"You truly think you are untouchable, aren't you?" she replied.

Harrison chuckled, probably agreeing with her. "I'll be seeing you soon."

"How about you don't come here ever again," Jax said. He took another step forward, standing straight in front of Harrison. Jax was taller than him, and Dani figured that he had to be intimidated by him.

"You cannot always protect her. Sooner or later this business deal _will_ get done." He gave Dani a nod before turning around, casually walking down the street as if nothing had just happened.

"We have to deal with him. Call everyone together," Jax told Juice.

Dani realized what that meant. This meant the Sons would get involved in her business, they were going to risk themselves for her. "Jax, don't," she tried telling him. "It's not worth it. Sooner or later he'll give up."

"And when will that be?" Jax put his hand on her cheek, cupping it carefully. "After he beats you up a second time?"

"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"No one will get hurt. I promise you."

* * *

He had taken Dani with him to the clubhouse. Although she wasn't allowed inside during their meeting, Jax had Half-Sack watching her. All the time she kept staring at the room they were seated in, wondering what they were talking about. She could only hope they weren't planning anything rash.

"I'm sorry about the café," Half-Sack told her, handing her a glass of water.

"Thanks," Dani nodded gratefully. She liked the prospect and for his sake she hoped it wouldn't take long for him to be patched in.

When she heard the door of the clubhouse opening, she expected to see Gemma, but instead she saw Ima standing in the doorway. Her heels clicking against the wooden floor as she took large confident steps inside. She was wearing a skimpy red dress Dani herself wouldn't wear in a million years, unless she was really desperate for a date.

Ima stopped in her tracks when she saw Dani sitting at the bar. Her smile transformed into a bitch face and she slightly raised her eyebrows.

"Oh god," Half-Sack mumbled, realizing where this was going.

She never liked any of the CaraCara girls, but out of all of them she hated Ima the most. Dani didn't necessarily hate Ima because she had been with Jax many times, she hated her because she thought she was the queen of Charming, and no one could touch her. She simply did not understand the world didn't belong to her.

"What are you doing here?" Dani hissed, sliding off the barstool to confront her. With her heels, Ima stood a few inches taller than she was, but that didn't intimidate her.

"I could be asking you the same," Ima replied, cocking her head slightly to the left, frowning.

"Jax asked me here."

"Well, Jax _wants_ me here."

"Oh yeah?" Dani scoffed, not sure if she was hearing this correctly. Why didn't this chick understand the guys around here only wanted her because she was a pornstar, not because she was old lady material.

"Yeah," Ima nodded. "He wants someone who can handle him."

Dani chuckled, never breaking eye contact. "Are you serious?"

Before Ima could reply, Half-Sack jumped in between them. "Girls! Girls.. stop! If anything happens to you two, they will kick my ass."

"It's okay, Sack," Dani said, taking a step back, raising her hands. "I'm done."

"Yeah, you step away, bitch!"

Ima shouldn't have said that. Within a second Dani had shot forward, pushing Half-Sack aside, curling her hand up into a fist and letting it collide with her face.

Ima gasped, falling to the ground while Half-Sack stood by helplessly. "You two will be the _death_ of me," he said, stepping in front of Dani again, pushing her back.

She wasn't sure why she had done it. Never before had she been aggressive, but seeing Harrison again had triggered something. No longer would she take anyone's bullshit. They had hurt her before, but no one would hurt her again.

Their fight had caught the attention of the guys. Probably wondering what the fuss was about, the door slammed open. "What the fuck is going on here?" Clay said, appearing in the doorway, but when he saw Ima and Dani he quickly called Jax. "I think this is your problem."

Jax showed up by Clay's side. His raised his eyebrows upon the sight. "What did you two do now?!"

Dani waited for Ima to explain since she had started it, but since she was sitting on the floor, touching the spot where Dani had punched her while softly crying, nobody spoke a word.

"Half-Sack?" Jax then asked, shifting his gaze to the prospect which was standing between the two of them again.

"I had nothing to do with this. They started fighting out of nowhere," he tried explaining, pointing towards the two of them.

"Jesus Christ, I leave you alone for two minutes and you start a fight," Jax said, approaching Dani.

"Well, technically, she started it."

It seemed like he was waiting for a further explanation, but Dani didn't have one. It was just a fight between the two of them, it wasn't like Jax had never been in a fight before.

"Is she hurt?" Jax asked Tig, who had kneeled down besides Ima to check her injuries.

Dani rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Whose face looks worse?"

Even though Gemma had given her a special kind of gel which was supposed to help with the bruising, they were still clearly visible, not to mention the cuts on her cheek which could leave behind a permanent mark. Besides, she hadn't even punched Ima _that_ hard.

"She's fine," Tig replied, helping her up.

"I need to talk to you," Jax told her sternly.

Dani watched how Ima practically hung unto to Tig for dear life, acting like she just had been shot. Why was she receiving all the blame? She hadn't even started the fight and if this was a competition of whose face was more fucked up, she'd definitely win.

"Fine, whatever," Dani replied, following him to the apartment in the back of the clubhouse.

Jax let her enter the apartment first. She sat down on the bed in the middle of it, expecting to be lectured. But something quite the opposite happened.

"You really hit her?" Jax asked, a playful smile covering his lips.

"You're evidence is back there," Dani replied, not sure where this was heading. Did he like her for hitting Ima?

He leaned forward, giving her a soft kiss. "That's kinda hot," he whispered, before giving her another.

Surprised by his reaction, Dani pushed him back. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be?" Jax said, wanting to reach down again, but Dani could stop him just in time. This was getting interesting.

"I hit her? And you're supposed to like her?"

"Let's not talk about it anymore," Jax suggested, which was fine by Dani. She let herself fall back on the bed, Jax on top of her, pressing his body against hers.

* * *

**A/N:** So my midterms are finally over, YAY. That means I'll get to write a lot more :) Thank you all for reading and following this story, it truly means a lot. So please review to let me know what you think about it so far! Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

It was amazing how fast Gemma could put together the fundraiser. The week had hardly passed since she had announced she was organizing it, yet here Dani was, standing in the park at _her_ fundraiser. There were various stands selling baked goods and the cops had organized a barbecue stand. Children could buy balloons, play games and all the way in the back of the park a stage was put up. Bobby was performing as Elvis and some local bands would also perform later on.

Seeing everyone pitch in to help her made her feel a little overwhelmed. She knew she had the support of Charming, but never did she dare to dream she would receive so much support. If only Harrison could see her now.

"You like it?" Gemma said, standing next to her.

Dani nodded, smiling. "I love it. Thank you so much for this, Gemma."

"No problem," she replied.

Dani couldn't wipe the smile off her face. The fundraiser was everything she had hoped it would be and more. Even if they wouldn't raise any money at all, she didn't mind. The support she had gotten was worth more to her than all the money in the world.

She spotted Jax approaching in the distance. Dani walked towards him, their eyes meeting. "Hey," she greeted him, wrapping her arms around his neck to give him a hug. "Thank you for this."

"I would do anything for you, you know that," Jax replied, his hands on her waist.

Dani let the words sink in, wondering to what measure he meant them. Over the past few weeks they had definitely gotten more close, but she asked herself if Jax's feelings for her where the same as she had for him. Dani loved him since she could remember, but he had always been quite the womanizer. Maybe she was just delusional, and all of this didn't mean anything.

"We even have fireworks later on," he continued.

"Really?" Dani smiled. "I love fireworks."

"I knew that. Come on, let's go check out Bobby."

She nodded. Jax pushed her softly forward, his hand rested on her waist as they moved closer to the stage. Dani had to give it to Bobby, even though he didn't look like Elvis, he did sound like him quite a bit.

Someone in the crowd caught her attention. Dani squeezed her eyes together to look better and she couldn't believe who she was seeing. "Is that Wendy?" she mumbled to Jax.

Jax looked to the direction she pointing to. "What is she doing here?" Jax sighed. Dani had a bad track-record with Wendy, but this was _her_ day, and she wouldn't let anyone ruin it, not even Wendy or Ima.

"Just ignore it, Jax," Dani said, although she had to admit she was really curious in Wendy's reason for being here. Dani hadn't quite forgotten about her drug use, but guessing by the look of her clean clothes and washed hair, she wasn't using, at least not today.

"Nah, I'll go talk to her. See what she wants," he said. "I'll be right back."

"I'll go find Juice," Dani replied, not wanting to be left alone in the big crowd.

She found Juice sitting at a picnic table, a glass of beer in his hand. "Hey," she greeted him, sitting opposite of him.

"Is that Wendy?" Juice asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yep," Dani replied.

"You okay with her being here?"

Dani nodded. She couldn't possibly start a fight with every woman around Jax. Even though she was desperate to be with him, she couldn't force him into anything he didn't want. "Sure."

Juice cocked his head, probably not believing her, but Dani had to fool herself into thinking it didn't matter Wendy was being here.

Her eyes followed Jax and Wendy closely. He didn't seem to embrace her in a hug when he approached her, instead he confronted her with something. Dani wished she could hear what they were talking about, but there was no way for her to know. The only thing she could do was watch them talk and keep wondering.

"You still love him, don't ya?" Juice remarked.

Dani turned her head around to face him, surprised by his comment. She wanted to lie, but she couldn't. Juice had seen right through her. "Yes," she replied.

"I could tell," he said, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"It's not like I have a chance."

She had thought about this often. How was she going to make it work? Her having a business while Jax was always busy with the club. The only time they were able to see each other was in the morning and in the evening or when Jax came to the café. A relationship needed more time than they had, but nevertheless she was willing to give it a go.

"Of course you do. You just need to show him he needs you," Juice said before taking another sip. "Because he does need you, you know."

Dani nodded slowly, letting his words sink in. "What do you think they're talking about?"

She turned her body again to look at them. Wendy had her back faced towards her so she couldn't see her expressions, but by the looks of it, Jax didn't look happy. He ran his fingers through his hair before asking her something. Wendy replied with a nod.

"Not sure," Juice said.

"What the fuck is _she_ doing here?" Gemma demanded, appearing next to the picnic table. She had her hands on her hips as she too watched Jax and Wendy closely. Just like Dani, Gemma had never liked Wendy, claiming she was a junkie whore. Dani didn't know if she was a whore, as that wasn't her business, but she was definitely a junkie. "I'm going to find out."

Dani pulled Gemma back by her arm before she could go. "No, let them talk. Jax will tell us."

She knew Gemma didn't like to do what she was told, but this time she listened to her and sat down at the picnic table. How Jax hadn't noticed the three of them staring, was a mystery to her. The three of them kept watching them closely. When they appeared to be finished talking, Jax turned around, spotted them, and walked towards them. Quickly they all turned around as if they hadn't been closely staring at them, acting normally.

Dani felt butterflies rise in her stomach as Jax approached. She had a bad feeling about this, but she wouldn't know anything for sure until he told them what was up.

"Can I have a word, ma?" he asked. He remained standing behind Gemma, not bothering to sit down. Dani looked at him, a soft smile on her lips, but the smile was not returned. Instead, she was blatantly ignored.

"Yeah," Gemma replied, standing up, following Jax to a place where they could talk privately.

"That doesn't sound good," Dani said, once they disappeared in the distance.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Juice tried reassuring her. "Don't worry about it."

But Dani couldn't help it. How could she not worry about Jax when Wendy turned up out of nowhere? Plus he didn't look happy, something must be up. She figured she could maybe talk Gemma into telling her.

"I gotta get the fireworks ready, I'll see you later, okay?" Juice softly squeezed her shoulder after he got up.

SOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOA

Dani was very thankful for all the people trying to talk to her. This way, she didn't have to think about Wendy. She even managed to avoid her all the time, not bumping into her once. The people of Charming made her feel safe. She knew if Harrison were to come back, everyone would have her back. Dani made a mental note never to move out of Charming, as she doubted she could find a community spirit like this anywhere else.

Once it was getting dark it was announced the fireworks would be fired off soon. Like he promised, Juice had found her again, but Jax and Gemma were nowhere in sight. "Everything good to go?" she asked.

"Yep, it's all been set up. Opie will take care of it."

"You are a great friend, Juice," Dani smiled. She couldn't live without Jax, but she couldn't live without Juice either. He had always been there for her and she vowed to always be there for him as well. She knew the club could give him a hard time.

Juice smiled and gave her a hug.

The fireworks show was perfect, although it would've been even more perfect if Jax would be here. Afterwards they had announced how much money they had raised and Dani almost cried from happiness. With all that money she could buy everything she needed for the café. It would look even more beautiful than before.

SOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOA

Dani softly closed the door behind her, tired of the day. It had had it's ups and downs but overall she felt very happy. She reminded herself to put up a sign at the store tomorrow, telling the customers it would open soon. They deserved that, to say the least.

She sat down on the couch, kicking off her sneakers and putting her feet on the table. Dani pushed herself upwards slightly so she could retrieve her phone from her pocket, her fingers darting over the keypad to dial Gemma.

She picked up soon enough. "You want to know what Wendy had to say, don't ya?"

"Well, yes," Dani replied honestly, wondering if she was that predictable.

"He told me not to tell you, but you deserve to know."

She had butterflies in her stomach again, suddenly asking herself if she wanted to know the truth, but she told herself to be strong. There was no hiding from the truth.

"Wendy is pregnant. She's saying it's Jax's."

* * *

**A/N:** Yay for cliffhangers! But seriously, I couldn't keep Abel out of the story, it wouldn't seem right. How is Dani going to respond tho :P I'm currently planning out everything, trying to tie it in with season 1, but it's proving harder than I thought. Anyways, please tell me what you want to see happening or what you think is going to happen, and maybe I'll write it in the story if I like it! Take care :D


	7. Chapter 7

Dani had reacted normally, but when she put down the phone she sat back, staring in the distance. Did she just hear that correctly? Was she dreaming? She shook her head, trying to focus. With her fingers she softly pinched herself, but realized this was all happening.

Was she naïve to think she was the only girl for Jax Teller? After the night they spent together, she had a certain hope she was going to be enough for him, that he maybe in a sort of way commit to her. Of course she didn't know for how long Wendy had already been pregnant, it could've easily happened before. But it still made her doubt their relationship.

Dani moved her feet from the table to the floor, burying her head in her hands. She was feeling a lot worse about this whole situation than she should. This wasn't her problem, not in the slightest, yet she was thinking about how she was going to handle the situation. The thought that she could also care for the child slipping in her mind.

She pushed herself upwards from the couch, ready to go to bed, trying to think of something else. However the thought of having to face Jax tomorrow and pretend she didn't know anything haunted her mind the entire night.

* * *

Thankfully she had her café to worry about. Together with her colleague Lana she had roamed countless furniture stores, looking for the perfect new sets to fill her café. The one upside about the whole incident with Harrison was the fact that she now could redo the entire café and change it to her tastes. Her dreams of changing it into a 1950s style diner could finally come true, with the help of Charming's residents, of course.

They had also picked up buckets of paint, as this was the perfect opportunity to make everything look fresh again, as seeing as there was hardly anything left in the café right now. Deciding she was going to redo the floor as well, they didn't even have to bother with making sure they didn't spill any.

"Wow, that seriously looks good," Lana said, after Dani put her brush against the wall, painting a small section.

She cocked her head slightly to the right, taking a step back. "It does, doesn't it?"

She moved forward again, continuing to paint. If they worked hard they could paint the entire café in one try, making sure it was completely dry before the new furniture would arrive. "Thanks for helping me out, by the way."

"No problem," Lana said, picking up a brush herself to start on an other way. "The sooner the café is up and running, the better."

Dani nodded in agreement. She missed talking to her customers, serving them coffee. If all worked out well, they could open in a weeks, maybe a little longer.

"Are not scared he will return?" Lana suddenly asked. She had her eyes focused on her paint work.

Dani wasn't sure what to reply at first. Of course she was scared, but she didn't want to tell her employees that. They had to feel safe in the café, so she had to pretend she also felt safe. "Not really," Dani said. "Plus the Sons are helping me out so I don't think he'll dare to come back."

"Talking about the Sons," Lana nodded towards the entrance of the café. Jax tapped his fingers against the glass, giving her a slight nod.

Dani's heart started pounding as she moved to unlock the door and open it. She opened it only halfway, not wanting to let Jax in.

"Hey," he greeted her. "Can I come in?"

Dani shook her head. "I'm kinda busy right now."

Jax looked behind her. "I won't be here long. I just wanted to check you were alright."

"Yeah, well, as you can see I'm fine."

She wasn't sure how he could act so normal, like nothing had happened. Was he ever going to tell her about Wendy's pregnancy, or was he going to wait until the baby itself was born to tell her?

"Is something wrong?" Jax said, raising his eyebrow.

_Act cool, Dani. Act cool_, she told herself. "Nope, everything is fine. I just want to finish this today."

She faked a smile before closing the door slowly. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah?" Jax said. Dani didn't know if he believed her, but she didn't really care anyway.

"Bye," she said, before fully closing the door and locking it.

"Well that was a little cold," Lana remarked, after Dani had moved back to her original position, paint brush already in her hand. "Something I need to know?"

"Trust me," Dani started. "You don't _want_ to know."

* * *

She knew she couldn't avoid Jax for the rest of her life. Dani didn't want to avoid him for the rest of her life, but she knew everything she needed to know about Wendy's pregnancy, she didn't want to see him.

After she practically send Jax away, Dani focused entirely on her paintwork. Her brush strokes were almost aggressive, and she spilled quite a bit of paint on the ground.

"Relax, Dani," Lana told her with a half-smile.

"Just ignore me," Dani replied. "I'm being angry for nothing. I shouldn't be taking it out on you."

This wasn't fair to her colleague and friend. Wendy's pregnancy was _her_ problem, not theirs. Hell, it wasn't even really her problem to begin with.

"Well, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here," Lana said.

Dani smiled softly. "Thanks, I'll remember that."

The silence that followed was disrupted by an impatient knock on the door which undoubtedly belonged to Gemma. Dani turned around, resting her paintbrush on a paper plate on the ground. She could try to ignore Jax, but there was no way she could ignore Gemma.

Before she could say hi to Gemma, she had already spoken. "We need to talk."

Dani raised her eyebrows, but knew she could not say no to this. "Okay," she replied, before turning her torso to face Lana. "Do you mind staying here?"

"Not at all," her colleague replied. "I'll hold down the fort."

"Thanks," Dani smiled. "I'll drop by later to help you finish up."

Gemma placed her hand on her arm, pulling her away from her café.

"Why are you in a rush?" Dani gasped as she struggled to keep up with Gemma's fast pace. She noticed how her hands were still covered in paint.

"You know me," Gemma replied. "No time to waste."

They got into Gemma's Cadillac, but she didn't start the engine of the car and instead faced Dani directly.

"What?" Dani said a little uneasy.

"We need to do something about Wendy," Gemma stated confidently.

Dani snickered. "We?"

"Honey, you can't fool me. I know this whole situation doesn't sit well with you."

Gemma was right, but Dani was unsure what her words meant. What was she going to do? They could hardly force Wendy to have an abortion, even though she knew that would be better for everyone. Wendy still remained a junkie, and Dani had to wait to see if she would be able to stay off drugs during her entire pregnancy, and Jax was not ready to be a father yet.

"Okay, that is true," Dani nodded, looking around her. They were still sitting in the parking lot. "Are we not going to drive somewhere?"

"Nah, I needed to talk and no one can hear us here, but that is not the point."

"Please, enlighten me, because right now I have no idea what you are talking about."

Gemma rolled her eyes, as if it was obvious Dani should know what she was talking about. "You need to convince Jax that this baby is a bad idea."

"And then what?" Dani replied. What was the point of all this. If Jax wanted this baby it was his right to keep it. She wasn't going to force anyone into something that she wanted and besides, she still didn't want to talk to him.

"I don't know. He'll listen to you."

"Gemma, this is crazy. I'm not going to force Jax into forcing Wendy to have an abortion. As much as I hate the idea of them two sharing something, I can't do that."

Gemma sighed and placed her hand on her check, softly cupping it. "You are too good for this world, you know that?"

Dani smiled. "Well yeah, I did punch Ima in the face."

Gemma replied with a chuckle.

"Gemma?" Dani suddenly asked on a more serious note. "Besides, he needs to tell me first... Do you think he'll ever tell me? It's been a day since the fundraiser…"

"Yeah," Gemma nodded. "Just give him time, baby. We both know you are the best thing that ever happened to him, he just needs to stop acting with his dick and start thinking with his head."

"I can agree with that," Dani laughed.

"Why don't you drop by the clubhouse tonight?"

Dani sighed softly, playing with the hem of her sweater. "I don't know… I practically kicked him out of the café this morning. I'm not sure if I'm ready to see him again."

"Well, whatever you decide to do, you know that you are welcome, okay?"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, guys! Turns out school is taking a lot of my time after all :( (besides I also have to travel for 3 hours everyday which doesn't help haha). But here it is, another chapter! As always, please let me know what you think by leaving a review as it is very much appreciated. I'll see you next time! :D


	8. Chapter 8

It was getting late when she found herself walking down Teller-Morrow's parking lot, heading for the clubhouse. She initially didn't want to come, but she had to face him again sooner than later. Plus she figured the sooner he saw him, the sooner he could tell her about the pregnancy.

Dani also had to admit she felt bad about kicking him out this morning. He didn't know that she knew about this and it wasn't fair of her. And maybe a part of her wanted to see him again. Jax had this certain attraction that was hard for her to ignore. She couldn't push him aside even though she wanted to. She guessed that was the power of being in love with someone since she had been a teenager.

As usual, music was blaring out of the building. While heading inside she greeted Chibs and Tig, who were sitting outside, smoking a cigarette. "Jax is inside if you need him, darling," Tig spoke.

"Thanks," Dani replied, even though she had promised herself not to talk to him unless he talked to her first.

It wasn't long before she spotted him. He was standing at the bar, talking to Piney. When Dani looked closer she noticed he was wearing his _Reaper Crew_ cap backwards. She took in a deep breath and released it slowly. If there was one thing that she could not resist no matter how hard she tried, it were men with their cap on backwards. Add Jax to that mix and he could do anything he wanted to do and she'd still love it.

She saw Juice sitting in the back, talking to a CaraCara girl she would blatantly ignore, but luckily the girl left as soon as she arrived. Maybe she caught wind of her punching Ima and didn't want to get into a fight with her. "Hey," Dani said, sliding on a chair opposite of him. She wasn't sure if Juice knew about Wendy being pregnant yet, so she decided not to bring it up.

"How are you doing?" Juice said with a soft smile.

"I'm okay. You?"

"Busy," Juice replied. "We were in church all day. Talking about that Harrison guy and some other stuff."

"Harrison?" That caught her attention. The stuff with Wendy had almost made her forget about Harrison and the club getting involved. "Please tell me you are not going to do anything stupid."

Juice shook his head. "Nah, Clay don't want to get involved too much, but of course Jax wasn't having any of that. He really wants revenge."

Dani turned her head to look at Jax, _with his stupid cap_. He had his back towards her, but when she noticed Half Sack put two drinks in front of him, she quickly turned around again and it wasn't long before she heard his footsteps behind her.

"I didn't know you were coming," he spoke, placing the drinks on the table in front of him. His hand was on the small of her back and he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, which she couldn't dodge.

"I'm gonna see if Half-Sack needs help," Juice said, quickly sliding off his seat. Dani slightly raised her eyebrows as her eyes met his, not wanting him to leave the two of them alone. But Juice gave her a comforting smile and disappeared.

"It was a last minute decision," Dani replied, quickly taking a sip from her drink, her skin still burning where Jax had kissed her.

"What happened this morning?" Jax asked, sitting down next to her.

She knew this question was coming up, and it was only fair to reply it, with a lie. "It was nothing. I'm just stressed out about the café, that's all." Dani could only hope Jax wouldn't see right through her lie.

He nodded slowly. "You worried about Harrison?"

"Yeah that, and all the stuff going on with the remodeling," she continued. "I'm sorry for kicking you out though."

"Nah, that's alright," Jax replied with a soft smile.

_God_, how could she resist him when he was looking at her like that? Jax was making this a lot more difficult than she wanted to. There was just no way she could stay angry at him.

"Are you home tomorrow morning?" he continued.

Dani raised her eyebrows, wondering what he was up to. "Yeah, I have to pick up some stuff for the café, but I'm home before that. Why?"

"I got a surprise for you." His warm smile turned into a slightly mischievous one, which made her a little uneasy. She wasn't too great in dealing with surprises, especially if they came from Jax. Dani already knew she would spend the entire night worrying about what it was going to be.

"You know I hate surprises, don't you?" Dani said.

"Yeah, but I don't really care," Jax replied. "Besides, you'll love this surprise. I promise you."

"So, anything happened here lately?" Dani asked casually, trying to change the subject. "Something I need to know?"

"Not really," Jax said. However Dani could spot a little uneasiness in his voice. They both knew they were hiding something but neither of them was willing to admit it.

She couldn't stop there. "What did Wendy want at the fundraiser?"

Jax took a sip from his drink. "Nothing much. Just some stuff about our divorce papers.'

"Oh," she said, frowning. Was he never going to tell her the truth? Was he going to wait until Wendy went into labor to tell her? Dani made a mental note to call Gemma again, maybe she could talk to Jax.

"So… How is Ima's nose doing?" she asked, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"Haven't spoken to her since, so I wouldn't know," Jax replied.

That surprised her. She had expected both Ima and Jax to find each other again, but apparently they did not. This give Dani a kind of hope that Jax could commit to one person. Wendy happened before her. Was she naïve to hope that she could be the only one for him?

"I gotta go," she said, sliding off the chair. "Need to rest for my big surprise tomorrow."

Jax chuckled. "Oh yeah, you better."

"You're not going to tell me what it is?" she tried hopeful.

"Nope," Jax replied. "You just have to wait and see." He too slid off his chair, standing in front of her while looking her in her eyes. "Half-Sack can take you home if you want to? I gotta stay here, I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. I can go by myself."

Her stomach started to fluster, as she was not sure how to say goodbye. But luckily Jax took the lead and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," Dani replied slightly overwhelmed. She had to get out of there before she couldn't contain herself. _I'm still mad at him for Wendy, remember?_ She hold herself, but it was getting harder and harder each second.

* * *

She woke up early after having another nightmare. Even after a week, Harrison still found a way to creep into her head. Maybe the pharmacist had some stuff which could help her with sleeping, _or maybe Jax could stay over_.

Just like Harrison, Jax crept his way into her mind constantly, closely followed by images of Wendy, holding their baby. Dani tried pushing her thoughts away, blaming them on sleep deprivation. _Some food will help me think straight_, she thought, getting out of bed.

She wrapped herself in a silk rope after the cold morning air hit her skin. Weather in Charming was usually great, but the mornings had the tendency of being rather cold. While walking to her kitchen she checked her phone for any new messages and put on the kettle.

While waiting for the water to boil, Dani went through her e-mail, noticing that she received one telling her the furniture she had ordered had arrived. _Perfect_, she thought. With this rate, the café could be open in no time.

Secretly she wanted Harrison to come back, to see how well she was doing. The café was looking better than before and she was not afraid of him, not with the whole of Charming having her back.

The knock on the door disrupted her thoughts. She placed her phone next to the kettle and peaked her head around her blinds. "Shit," she muttered to herself. He was early, way to early.

Quickly she darted back to her bedroom, sliding in a pair of jeans and quickly putting on a sweater.

Jax knocked again. "Coming!" Dani replied, almost out of breath. She had no time to put her hair in a ponytail or brush her teeth.

"You're early," she said, opening the door for him.

Jax nodded. "Is it a bad time?"

"No! It's fine. I was up early anyway."

She stepped aside so Jax could enter, but he remained standing outside. "Your surprise is in the car," he said, a soft smile playing on his lips.

Dani's heart started to beat faster, worrying about what is was going to be. How was she supposed to react when she didn't like it? There was a reason she hated surprises.

He took her hand and led her to his car, a rare occurrence since Jax almost always rode his bike. They stopped in front of passenger seat. "Open it," Jax said, his eyebrows raised as if he was waiting for her response.

Slowly Dani extended her arm to the door, pulling it open. When she saw what her surprise was, she turned back to Jax. "Oh my god," she exclaimed. "You got me a puppy?"

With both arms she grabbed the dog, lifting it up into her arms. Dani guessed the pup was only a few months old. It playfully bit her finger, before licking it. It's fur was chocolate brown and still so soft.

"Do you like it?" Jax asked. He took a step forward, petting the pup on his head.

"I love it," Dani replied. She couldn't keep her eyes off the dog. This was absolutely perfect. Not only would the dog accompany her at night, he would also protect her once it was a little older.

"I told you," he laughed.

"Thank you, Jax," Dani said honestly. "This is really great."

"You're welcome," he said, his hand on her hip. "So… What are you going to name it?"

* * *

**A/N:** I thought I'd upload another chapter before the weekend is over, since I don't have much time during the week itself. I hope you like it! Who knew that Jax could be so romantic ;) Oh, and to the guest who left a review asking about Dani's appearence, you are absolutely correct! I never wrote down how she looked, because I like to keep that open for you all to fill in just the way you want her to look! I always like to create an appearance for characters myself instead of being told what they look like, so that's why. As always, please review and I'll see you next time :D


	9. Chapter 9

Together with Lana and her new puppy, Dani went to pick up her furniture. They had rented a moving van, which Lana was confident she could drive, to bring all the stuff to her café. Jax had promised her to stop by later to help her assemble everything.

"He's so cute," Lana said, reaching out to pet the dog cradled in Dani's arms.

"Jesus, Lana. Focus on the road," Dani laughed, wondering if Lana really could drive a van.

The stuff they got was all in retro theme. She even managed to track down a jukebox which she could pick up later this week. Dani could hardly contain her excitement. The café was beginning to look better than ever and if she was being honest, she missed working.

"I can't believe Jax got you a dog," she continued. "That's really romantic."

Dani blushed slightly. She had to admit Jax had made her feel really special. How often does someone buy someone else a dog?

"Just pull up here," Dani replied, wanting to change the topic. Talking about Jax still made her a little uncomfortable, especially since she didn't know what they were exactly. Lovers? Friends? Something more?

Luckily there was a parking spot in front of the café so they didn't have to carry all the stuff from down the street to the café. Dani got out of the van, putting her dog on the ground. She still had to think of a name for him, but so far she had absolutely no inspiration. If it were Lana's way, the dog would be called Chewy, but Dani had talked her out of it.

While she opened the door, letting the dog in, Lana opened up the van. The pup immediately started to explore the café, sniffing the walls which had been freshly painted. Dani followed him, hoping he wouldn't pee on her brand new floor.

Lana already started to unload when Dani returned to give her a hand. She picked up one of the bar stools and carried it inside. "Watch the dog," Lana warned. Maybe having a dog around wasn't the best idea, but she could not leave him alone in her home. Besides, she wanted him to also be at the café when she was there, so it was better for him if he could adjust quickly to the environment.

Luckily not much of the new stuff had to be actually assembled, so she saved the stuff that had to be assembled up for last, figuring Jax was better with that kind of stuff than she and Lana were.

"I'm gonna go if that's alright?" Lana spoke after spending the entire morning at the café, placing everything just the way Dani wanted it.

"Yeah sure," Dani said. "Jax is coming, and besides, I have Bruce to look after me now." She kneeled down to give her dog a kiss.

"_Bruce_?" Lana spoke.

Dani nodded, smiling. The name had popped into her head all of a sudden and she found it very fitting. It was pretty badass name for a badass dog.

* * *

For the first time in forever, Dani left the door unlocked. With Bruce by herself she felt safe, and she had begun wondering if Harrison was actually ever coming back. It had been quite some time now and the more time passed, the less she started to care. He wasn't going to trash her café a second time.

"Need help?" she heard Jax's voice behind her. Dani had been sitting on the floor, trying to figure out how this cabinet was supposed to be assembled but the drawing was rather complicated, plus she had to keep an eye on Bruce which didn't exactly speed up the process.

"Actually, yes," she said, pushing herself up from the ground, moving closer to Jax, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

Bruce had also spotted Jax, excitedly dribbling towards him. "You think of a name yet?"

"Yeah, Bruce."

Jax nodded. "That's a good name."

"So," Dani said, picking up the manual from the ground, giving it to Jax. "If you can fix that thing then I can play with Bruce?"

Jax laughed. "Only because you asked to nicely."

* * *

"Thanks," Dani smiled when Jax had finished assembling the cabinet. "If you could put it in that corner that would be great."

He nodded pushed it to the exact place where she wanted it. Dani took a step back, admiring her café. Everything looked drastically different, yet everything about the café was still the same.

"You're father would've been proud," Jax said, standing next to her.

Dani nodded slowly. She could hardly believe she really did it. The café was her proof that she could rise above anything. No matter what life threw at her, she would fight back and get better.

"It looks better than before, don't you think?" she asked, her eyes taking in every detail.

"You did an amazing job, Dani. If Gemma sees this she'll probably get you to redo the clubhouse."

Dani chuckled. "I'm done with redecorating for a while."

She turned her body to face him, her hand on his arm. "Thanks again for Bruce, Jax. And helping me get through everything."

"No problem, darling," Jax replied, his hand on her waist. "You know I'd do anything to make you feel safe."

Dani felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Jax pressed his body against hers, cupping her face with his hands. Before she could react, he had already pressed his lips against hers.

Her mind went clouded and for a few seconds, Dani struggled to think. This _was_ what she wanted, wasn't it? The kiss that used to feel so good, suddenly felt different. Before they did anything further, she _needed_ answers.

"Jax," she whispered, pulling her head back. He frowned upon her reaction, letting one hand drop to his side. "I know about Wendy."

Jax took a step back, running his fingers through his hair, looking confused. "Gemma?"

Dani nodded. There was no point in denying Gemma had told her, no one else knew about it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shook his head. "I don't know," he spoke.

She sighed, placing her hand on her hip. "What are we doing, Jax?"she demanded.

Their relationship went to friendship to something Dani didn't even know what it was. The romance they had wasn't conventional to begin with, but Wendy's news made it even more complicated than it already was. If they were ever going to make it work between them, there could be no secrets, none at all.

"Look," Jax began. "I'm not even sure how I feel about Wendy being pregnant. But I can't force her to get an abortion. I guess I didn't tell you because I was scared."

"I understand that," Dani admitted. "I would be too. But we can't keep going on like this. I mean, what am I to you? An old lady? A croweater?"

Jax sighed. "Dani, all I know is that I care for you. Hell, I would kill for you. If you want to be an old lady, then you can be."

Dani blinked a couple of times, letting his words sink in. "Are you serious about the old lady part?"

Jax snickered. "I said I'd kill for you but you're focusing on being an old lady?"

"I don't expect I need a assassin anytime soon, but if I do, I'll know who to call. But answer my question," she chuckled.

The thought of being an old lady delighted her maybe a little more than it should. Being one was hard work, you had to stand by your man no matter what, attend parties, fundraisers, and she had to manage her own café in the meantime. Dani realized she didn't want to necessarily be an old lady, she wanted to be _Jax's_ old lady.

"Only if you want to," Jax said.

Dani placed her hands on his neck, her body against his. "Yes," she said, looking in his eyes, before his lips met hers.

* * *

**A/N:** A little shorter than normal, but better than nothing right! I've noticed the amount of reviews go down over the past couple of chapters, but please keep on writing them! I love getting them and they are such a huge motivation to me. Anyways, the next chapter will probably be up later this week so I'll (hopefully) see you guys then! Bye :D


	10. Chapter 10

The big day was finally here. After being closed for almost two weeks, Dani's café was ready to be reopened. It had gotten a complete overhaul, not even looking remotely the same, but she couldn't wait for her clients to see it.

For the occasion, Gemma had helped her decorate the café with balloons and banners. Ever since Dani told her about her and Jax, they had grown even closer. Gemma came to see her practically every day. It seemed like she was really part of the family now.

She also didn't mind the respect she received. Dani was Jax Teller's old lady now, not just some hang around. People were getting her drinks and offering to help her out with the café. It seemed as if they were looking up to her. The only one who hadn't talked to her yet was Ima, but she couldn't say she was looking forward to that conversation so Dani decided not to go look for her. There was no point in fighting about Jax, he was hers now.

"Your father would be proud," Gemma said. They were admiring their work, checking if all the banners hung straight. The entire morning they had spent preparing and Dani was sure she would go insane if she had to blow up another balloon.

Gemma's words touched her. She could only hope her dad would've liked the direction she went in. It was a little less conventional than he'd probably go for, but no one could deny the café looked great. "Thank you, Gemma," she replied. "That means a lot."

"Is everything else ready?" Gemma asked.

Dani nodded. "It took me an entire night to prepare everything, but I'm pretty sure it is all covered."

Not wanting to bother her employees, Dani had spent the whole night baking cakes, making sure everything was ready to go. Coffee was practically keeping her alive at this moment.

"Good," Gemma said, turning her body towards her. "I'm sure it's gonna be a success, sweetheart. You really outdid yourself."

Dani looked around her café, having to admit she did pretty good for herself.

* * *

"So, I'm not really good with speeches," Dani started. She was standing in front of a large audience inside her café. It seems like the whole town had showed up from the opening. The police, all her regular customers, everyone. They had all gotten quiet to hear her make a speech before officially opening the café. "But I just wanna thank you all for coming, I really appreciate it. Without all of you I could've never gotten the café back to where it was before, so once more, thank you so much."

Gemma handed her a scissor so she could cut the ribbon that she had hung between the opening in the bar. Dani smiled as she accepted it. "And I now declare this café open!" She cut the ribbon before getting a roar of applause. Her heart started to beat faster. She did it, she really did it. The café was open again and better than ever.

"First drink is on the house!" Gemma shouted over the noise, which resulted in an even louder uproar.

Dani cocked her eyebrow, wondering what that was about.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for them," Gemma said. "Just focus on the party, and not on the business. I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, Gemma," Dani replied. She turned around to find Jax, finding him in the corner of the café, talking to Chibs and Tig.

When he spotted her as well, he came towards her, embracing her in a hug before placing a kiss on her forehead. "I'm so proud of you, babe," he whispered in her ear.

"I can't wait to get back to work," she replied. "Don't think I'll ever get a job as a decorator."

"Gemma will gladly take that job from you," Jax snickered.

Dani spotted Bruce darting over the floor, dodging all the guests while being followed closely by Lana who had also taken a liking in the puppy.

"I'll get us something to drink," Dani said.

Jax nodded and she made her way through the crowd to the bar, accepting kind words from everyone she passed. Luckily Half-Sack and Opie's wife Donna had offered to manage the bar so she had the time to actually enjoy the party.

"Two beers, please," she told Half-Sack with a smile.

"Sure thing," he replied, turning his back towards her.

Dani rested against the bar. The café was completely packed and she expected tomorrow to be exactly the same. She had called all her staff to come into work tomorrow, wanting to be prepared for the lunch rush.

Turning her head to face the bar again, her eyes rested on the person next to her. Dani's heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was.

"Wendy!" she exclaimed. "Didn't know I invited you?"

This was the first time Dani had seen her since she knew about the pregnancy. To be honest, she figured Wendy didn't have the balls to show her face around Charming ever again, but clearly she had been wrong. Did Jax know she was here?

"I didn't know you had to have invitations?" Wendy replied.

Dani rolled her eyes. "I hope you are not drinking," she said, referring to the drink in her hand, which could either be a regular coke or coke mixed with something a little more strong.

Wendy raised her eyebrows. "So you know?"

"Jax doesn't keep anything from me," she snapped back, although that wasn't entirely true. There were a lot of things she didn't know about Jax, some things she'd rather not know. The SAMCRO thing wasn't her business, but she did wish he would let her in a little more.

"Yeah, what is up between you two anyway?"

Dani glanced over her shoulder to look at Jax, being glad she was finally able to answer that question. "We're together," she replied.

"And you okay with this?" Wendy nodded towards her belly that seemed to have grown a lot bigger since the last time Dani had seen her.

"Not like I can do anything about it, can I?" Dani shrugged.

She felt a hand appear on her waist. "Everything alright here?" Jax said.

"Yeah," Dani nodded. "Wendy was just leaving."

Wendy frowned, but got the hint. "Nice talking to you, Dani."

Closely, she followed Wendy disappearing through the crowd, being able to breath again as soon as she was out of sight. Not wanting to start a fight at her own party, Dani managed to keep her anger under control.

"Don't be so hard on here," Jax remarked.

Dani turned around to face him. "What?"

"Just be nice."

What was up with his sentimental bullshit? Before Wendy was pregnant he wouldn't even look at her, let alone tell Dani to be nice to her. "It's my party, I do what I want," she told him, before slipping past him to go look for Gemma.

* * *

"Are you hiding?" Dani said, after finding Gemma in the parking lot behind the store.

"Just trying to enjoy my cigarette in silence," she replied. She extended her arm to offer Dani a drag, but she declined as she didn't smoke.

"Guess who just showed up?" Dani sat down beside Gemma in the door opening, extending her feet in front of her.

"Wendy?" Gemma guessed.

"Yeah," Dani nodded. "You need to have a talk with Jax though. He was telling my how I should be nice to her and shit."

"Jesus Christ, he's turning soft." Gemma put out her cigarette next to her. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him."

"Thanks," Dani said. Since things were finally going great between them, she didn't want Wendy to complicate things. Even though she was the mother of his child, Jax had to remember who she was exactly. A baby shouldn't change things.

* * *

She caught herself trying to dodge Jax for the rest of the evening, finally having to confront him again when almost everybody had left. It was already in the early hours of the day, and she could safely say she had had an amazing time. The working day would be hard though, as she probably wouldn't get any chance to sleep, seeing as the café still had to be cleaned and be made presentable for the first customers tomorrow.

After all the people helped her cleaning also left, it left her and Jax alone in the café. He was sitting on a bar stool, waiting for her to finish locking up. "Come here," he said, offering her his hand.

Dani obliged, not wanting to stay mad at him forever.

"I'm sorry for the Wendy thing okay?" he apologized.

"It's fine," Dani replied, glad he apologized. Maybe Gemma already had a talk with him?

"Good," Jax smiled, moving his head forward, his hands cupping her face.

Dani felt a little surprised by his reactions, but gladly went along. Her lips moved on his, her hands grabbing his back.

Jax stood up, lifting her in the process. He placed her on the bar, but before he could do anything further Dani stopped him. "Not where everyone can see," she laughed, referring to the big windows which covered the front side of the café.

"They might enjoy it," Jax replied, but he picked her up again, slowly walking to the kitchen of the café. Dani placed soft kisses in his neck. He closed the door behind them. "This better?"

"Much better," Dani said. As she was lowered on the crowd, she made sure not to hurt her head. The kitchen tiles felt cold under her skin, but luckily Jax's body was hot enough to warm her up.

* * *

Dani was very thankful she had kept the fleece blankets given to her by Gemma. She had placed one on the ground while another one covered their bodies.

"We will regret this so much tomorrow," she said, pressing her body against Jax's again after stepping out in the morning air to retrieve them. The hard floor would definitely leave her body aching after laying on it for so long.

"We'll survive," Jax laughed.

Dani rested her head on his chest, softly listening to his heart beating. Her eyes fell on the clock hanging on the wall opposite of her. "Shit, Lana is already coming in an hour." She hoped to at least catch a few hours of sleep before starting to work again, but more time had passed than she expected.

"Ah, don't worry, babe," Jax said. "That gives us plenty of time."

He smiled as he moved his body on top of hers again, giving her soft kisses.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, thank you all so much for the lovely reviews, please keep them coming! I would also like to wish you all a very happy easter :) I know I'll be stuffing my face with chocolate tomorrow. Hopefully I'll see you next time. Bye! :D


	11. Chapter 11

They got dressed quickly after they heard the front door of the café opening. Since Dani was starting to feel a little more comfortable around the place, she had given her staff the keys to the café. She could hardly keep distrusting everyone for the rest of her life.

"I'm coming!" Dani yelled to the front while handing Jax his shirt.

Quickly she pulled on her own pants and kicked the fleece blankets under the counter so they would be out of sight. They were both chuckling as they quickly put on their clothes.

"Dani? What are you doing back there?" Lana's voice replied.

"Quick," Dani hissed, opening the back door so Jax could leave.

"This feels just like when we were still in high school," Jax laughed.

"Don't talk so loud," Dani replied with a smile, pushing him outside.

"I'll stop by later to see how you're doing, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. See you then," she said before giving Jax a kiss.

She could close the door just in time before Lana stormed into the kitchens. "What are you doing?" Lana asked, frowning.

"Just putting the trash outside," Dani said with a half smile.

She moved out of the kitchen and slipped behind the bar, trying to think of a way to change the subject. "Come on, let's get everything ready."

* * *

The new look of her café gave Dani new energy to work. Never before had she done so much is so little time. Cleaning tables, helping customers, baking cookies, selling ice cream. Lana practically had to tell her to slow down, but she _couldn't_. Her café was her confirmation that she really could do anything. She could rise to any challenge. No mountain was too high for her to climb.

The café was packed for the entire day. People even had to wait to be seated, making Dani regret not expanding the café while she was at it. If business kept going this way, Dani had never to worry about paying the bills again.

Luckily the crowds died down later on day when Jax came to see her. He had brought Tig and Chibs with him, who eagerly helped themselves to a slice of freshly baked cake.

"Day going well?" Jax asked, leaning across the bar to give her a kiss.

Dani nodded. "It's good to be back."

The door of the café opened and the postman came in. "Hope they're not bills!" he said to Dani, handing them to her.

Dani thanked him and flipped through them, noticing that most of them indeed were bills. She stashed them under the cash register, telling herself to deal with them later. One letter had caught her eye, as it was unlike any of the others she had received today. Dani inspected the envelope, but she couldn't find any sort of indication of to who it was from.

Interested, she ripped it open. With two fingers she retrieved the letter, opening it in front of her. What she found was certainly unexpected. Her eyes darted over the piece of paper, wondering what it was. But it had to be what she thought it was.

"Jax," she said, "look at this."

Dani handed him the piece of paper, watching him closely to see his reaction.

"Holy shit," he said, showing it to Chibs as well.

"Do you think it's real?" Dani asked.

"It looks real," Chibs said, leaning forward to take a closer look.

The envelope contained a check of money worth half a million dollars. On the back there was a hand written message, saying: "_Try to refuse this offer, Dani._" It could only come from one person, and one person only: Harrison.

"Did you just get this?" Jax asked. Dani had known him long enough to know when he was getting angry, and anger was definitely rising in his voice.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Came in with the rest."

"He has to be in Charming," Jax stated. "This check came from our bank."

"Let's go get him," Chibs spoke, jumping up from his seat.

Dani opened her mouth but nothing seemed to come out. Yes, she wanted to make an end to the Harrison situation, but was it worth the risk? God knows what could happen. The Sons had a habit of acting before they thought their actions through.

Jax followed Chibs and Tig. Just before they could leave Dani was able to jump from behind the bar and stop Jax. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?" she spoke, hoping he would listen to her.

* * *

Gemma had called if it was alright for her to stop by. Apparently they urgently needed to talk, so Dani had agreed. Her staff had already gone home for the day, but she was still at the café tying up loose ends.

When her phone rang she hoped it was Jax, telling her they'd scared Harrison away once and for all, but of course that was not the case. Getting rid of Harrison wasn't as easy as she anticipated it would be. When she was younger her parents had always told her to ignore bullies, but with this guy that tactic clearly wasn't working.

Dani had given Gemma the key to the café, just in case something ever were to happen. She knew there was hardly anyone who could take advantage of Gemma, so her key would be safe with her.

"Hey, baby," Gemma said, entering the café. She gave Dani a kiss before she sat down opposite from her.

"Hey," Dani greeted back. "Can I get you anything?"

"Stop it," Gemma replied. "You're off duty now."

Dani sat back down, crossing her legs, waiting for Gemma to start talking again.

"We need to talk about the baby."

"Again?" Dani exclaimed. "I told you there's nothing I can do about it."

"Don't be like that," Gemma sighed. "I got a different plan now."

Dani raised her eyebrows, wondering where this was going. It was amazing how quickly Gemma could adapt if things weren't going her way. It would take her just mere seconds to think of a new strategy.

"You can be a guardian to the child."

She sounded so hopeful when she spoke her words, and on paper it may seem like a good solution. Wendy was not stable enough to raise a child, neither was Jax, but was she? She had her café to run, a puppy that needed to be looked after, enough worries to begin with. In reality, this solution maybe was not the best option. However Gemma had gotten her thinking. _What if?_

"I don't know, Gemma. Who knows what Jax and I are having is going to last? I have to be realistic here."

"Nonsense. You and Jax are gonna get married someday, baby. Don't you think this is what's best for the child?"

Gemma was trying to trick her in feeling guilty, but she wasn't going to fall for it. This baby was not her problem and it was never going to be her problem.

"Marriage? Jax and I have been dating for hardly a week, Gemma. And I'm not ready for a child, not yet."

"Lucky for you it's going to take a few months before it arrives."

Dani shook her head. If Gemma was serious about this, she at least needed a couple of days to think about it. Taking on a child was a huge responsibility, for now she was going to wait and see how Wendy is doing. If things were going to get a lot worse than they are now, maybe she could consider it.

"Where is Jax anyway?" Gemma continued. "Thought he was with you?"

"Don't know," Dani replied. "Probably somewhere killing Harrison or something."

Gemma cocked her eyebrow.

"I'm just kidding," she said.

"Very funny." Gemma raised from her chair, grabbing her bag. "Well, he better be at the clubhouse unless he wants to be killed by Clay."

Dani had completely forgotten about the party at the clubhouse. Since she was an old lady now, she needed to make an appearance. Besides it would be the only chance to see Jax before tomorrow. There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask him, most of them about Harrison, some about Wendy.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow! I passed 10.000 views on this fic. That is amazing, thank you all so much! Hopefully you all had a fun easter :) Anyway, here's another chapter! Next one will be up in a few days, probably thursday (and it's not one to be missed, I can promise you that ;)) Please leave a review and I'll see you next time :D


	12. Chapter 12

Dani spotted Jax hanging out at the bar. The long blonde woman next to him had to be Ima, but she decided not to pay any mind to her. She trusted Jax and for now Ima was the least of her worries.

"Hey," she smiled as she gave Jax a kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Did you find him?"

She let her eyes scan his face, but Jax looked okay. Dani couldn't see any wounds or injuries that hadn't been there before. It seemed as if nothing particularly violent had happened.

Jax shook his head. "No," he replied. "But we have the prospect riding around town, in case he reappears again."

"Thanks for doing this," Dani said. "You're making me feel a lot more safe."

Jax smiled. "Of course, darling. You wanna stay over at my place tonight?"

Dani nodded. "Yeah," she said.

It seemed as if Ima got the hint and left to find someone else to throw herself at. Dani sat down on her seat and waited to be served a drink by one of the croweaters. Being the VP's old lady certainly had its privileges.

Her colleague Lana had offered to take Bruce on for a few days, just so Dani could get everything together at the café. She was glad for it although she had to admit she was really missing her little puppy.

As the evening went by it seemed as if Dani had been accepted in the community even more. All the croweaters seemed to want to have a chat with her. Before she was competition to them, now she was someone they all looked up to. She was the one who managed to get Jax Teller all for herself. The countless of hangarounds trying to hit on her were now also far out of sight, as no one wanted to mess with the VP of the club.

"I'm gonna talk to Juice for a moment," she said.

Jax nodded, giving her hand a soft squeeze before letting go.

Dani found him sitting all by himself in the corner of the clubhouse. "This seat taken?" she asked, pointing to the chair next to him.

"Go ahead," Juice said.

"Everything alright?" Dani asked. This wasn't the Juice she knew. Normally he was really happy and uplifting but tonight he seemed far from that.

"Yeah, just tired," Juice smiled softly. "Don't worry about it."

Dani nodded, as she didn't want to argue with him about it. If there was something up, he'd tell her if he wanted to. "You know you can always tell me anything, right?" she said just to be sure.

"I know, Dani. Thanks," Juice replied with a soft smile. "So… How do you feel about this whole Wendy situation?"

"You know?" she replied surprised.

"Yeah, Jax told us about it yesterday. Must be hard for you, though."

Dani frowned. "Yeah. I'm not even sure where we are at that. I guess we'll just figure it out over time. He doesn't like to talk about it." She glanced behind Juice to see Jax talking to Clay.

"I'm sure everything will turn out fine," Juice spoke. "And anyway the prospects can babysit."

She chuckled. "True. They might even like that better than cleaning up after this mess." The clubhouse always had the tendency to be a pile of filth after parties like this. Prospects were the people who had to clean it up, and Dani didn't want to trade with them for one day.

* * *

While being an old lady came with a lot of privileges, it also came with a few drawbacks. One of them was having to stay at the party until the very end. A VP couldn't leave his own party early, he had to wait until most of the people were gone, and if Dani wanted to ride home with him, that meant she had to stay as well.

She was trying to contain her yawn when Jax came to her telling they could go home. "Thank god," Dani replied, quickly raising from the armchair she had been sitting in for the past hour. "I was starting to get bored."

"Well, we better do something about that," Jax laughed, placing a kiss on her lips before taking her hand to lead her to his bike.

* * *

Dani could get used to this. Waking up and the first thing she would see is Jax, sleeping peacefully with her wrapped in his arms. Everything seemed so peaceful at this moment, like every worry she once had had faded away. Still tired, she closed her eyes again, hoping that this moment could last just a few minutes longer.

She woke up again because of the sound of someone's phone. Groaning, the pushed herself upwards to retrieve her phone from the nightstand. "It's you," she told Jax, giving him a soft push to wake him up. Dani made a mental note to change her ringtone in something different as having the exact same phone was really confusing.

"What's going on?" Jax said, answering his phone.

Dani sat up straight next to him, trying not to eavesdrop but she was really curious as to who would call so early in the morning.

"Okay, yeah. I'll be right there," Jax continued. He ended the call, turning his body to hers again.

"Problems?" Dani asked.

"It's nothing, babe. Don't worry about it," he replied, before getting out of the bed and pulling on his pants. From his pockets her retrieved a set of keys and handed them to her. "You can stay as long as you want okay?"

Dani nodded. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Always are," he said, leaning forward to give her a long kiss. "I'll stop by later if I have the chance."

"Okay, see you then."

Sometimes she wondered if she wanted to know the things he did with SAMCRO, but then she decided against it. She had enough worries as it was, the club would be too much for her to handle. Besides, she heard Gemma speaking about old ladies only making it if they knew absolutely nothing, or absolutely anything, and right now Dani decided she wanted to know nothing.

* * *

Like he had promised, Jax stopped by the café during lunchtime, accompanied by Chibs. Dani was a little sad he hadn't brought Juice with him, but she made a mental note to call him later.

"Watch for the dog," Dani warned laughing. Bruce had been happily darting around the café all morning. She wondered where he got all his energy from.

"He's growing," Jax said, his eyes following the puppy.

"Yeah, and fast," she replied.

Lana gave Chibs and Jax both a cup of coffee before continuing to help the rest of the customers. She returned quickly however, grabbing Dani's arm. Her voice sounded worried. "Dani? That guy wants to talk to you. He didn't give me his name."

Dani's heart started to pound as she turned her head to see who it was. Her thoughts were quickly confirmed when she saw _him_ sitting at a table in the back. How did he get in without any of them noticing?

She found herself quickly charging at him, oblivious to the fact that she was clutching a knife she had been using to cut cake. "Get out now," she hissed.

"Be nice, Dani!" Harrison spoke. "I just came in to get some coffee. Oh, and to ask about the check, did you get it?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Dani replied. "Get out now."

She spoke a little louder than before, catching everyone's attention, including Jax's and Chibs'. They jumped from their seats and quickly moved in front of her.

"Put the knife down, Dani," Jax said, facing her.

Dani looked down to her hand and quickly let the knife fall on the ground, somewhat scared of herself that she was holding it in the first place. What was this guy doing to her?

"Ah, gentlemen," Harrison continued, looking quite amused. "Nice of you to join us. Maybe you two can convince the lady over here to accept my offer and we can settle this once and for all."

"Yeah," Jax nodded. He waited a few seconds before he launched forward, grabbing Harrison by his jacket, pulling him up.

Dani took a step back, gasping at what was happening. Everyone in the café stood up from where they were sitting and quickly moved to the back of the room.

"Let's just settle this a different way," he said, throwing Harrison outside of the café with the help from Chibs. "If I _ever_ see you here again, this all could get a different type of ending, okay?"

Harrison straightened out his suit as Jax released him. "You piece of shit white trash can't tell _me_ what to do."

"Oh, yes, boy," Chibs replied. "Yes we can. We can in this town."

* * *

Trying to get what happened out of here mind, Dani decided to go on a late night run to get some baking supplies. Baking always helped her get her mind off things and besides, she needed to fill up the stock again. The café was so busy at all time, she struggled to keep up with the demand.

Jax had to go back to the clubhouse to deal with some stuff, but she had assured him she would be alright by herself. She had her dog with her to protect her and besides, how big would the chance be for Harrison showing up twice?

To be sure she had switched off the lights in the café anyway, making it appears as if it was closed. Dani would enter through the back so no one could spot her.

She parked her car in the near empty parking lot. First she took Bruce out of the car, tying him up next to the door to her café so she could take in the stuff she had gotten without tripping over him. Next she went back and gathered everything she had bought in a big cardboard box. Maybe she went a little overboard with buying sprinkles and fondant, but she didn't care at this moment.

With one hand she unlocked the door while she balanced the box with her other. "Be patient, Bruce," she commented as the puppy tried to follow her inside.

She vaguely remembered leaving the lights on in the kitchens, but they appeared to be off, so she switched them on again.

When her vision focused again and she saw what was in front of her, she dropped the box with supplies and shrieked, before saying. "Holy fucking shit."

* * *

**A/N:** A new chapter, as promised! I hope you all liked the cliffhanger at the end, hehe. Wonder what's gonna happen next ;) I also finally found a way to link this story up with season 1, and it'll roughly follow the story lines of the show (without Tara of course). I would also like to reassure you that this fic will never involve Dani/Juice, even though they are pretty good friends. Dani/Jax will be the one and only focus of the story. As always, please, please, please review! It truly means a lot. Let me know what you think, and I'll see you next time. Take care :D


	13. Chapter 13

Her eyes fell on the puddle of blood on the ground. Holding her breath, she followed it closely to see where it had originated from.

"Dani," Jax said, he rushed forward grabbing her arm to pull her outside, but she wanted to see this.

She ignored Jax and went past him. Both Chibs and Juice were standing in her blood covered kitchen, watching her in complete silence.

The blood belonged to a lifeless body laying near the door leading to the café. Dani slowly moved closer. It seemed as if her mind had completely blank. She couldn't think, trying to process what she was seeing. Was this who she though it was?

She knelt down next to the body. Jax was standing behind her again, but this time he didn't intervene. Dani looked at the corpse. It was Harrison. It definitely was Harrison, she'd recognize his face anywhere. He was dead, shot through his temple.

"What did you do?" Dani asked Jax, not sure how to react.

It took a few seconds before any of them replied.

"He came back," Jax said. He knelt down besides her, took her hands into his and made her rise. Dani noticed how his grey SAMCRO sweatshirt was covered in blood. "He tried to break in and it got out of hand."

"What are we gonna do?" Dani said, suddenly realizing what this meant. There was a dead body in her kitchen. _There was a dead body in her kitchen_.

"We'll take care of it," he replied.

"What are we gonna do?" Dani repeated to herself. A slight state of panic was taking over. _There was a dead body in her kitchen._

"Juice, take her inside," Jax ordered.

"No," Dani shook her head, pulling her arm away from him. "No one can know we are here."

"Let me take you home instead," Juice offered.

"NO!" she shouted. "What are we gonna do?!"

_There was a dead body in her kitchen._ This had to be fixed. It had to be fixed right now. How was she supposed to run a business like this? The whole kitchen had to be cleaned. What were they gonna do?

Dani had never seen a dead body before today and it was doing more to her than she wanted. Was she slowly losing her mind? Was she going insane? Harrison was dead. She was supposed to be happy yet an empty feeling had taken over.

She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes before releasing it. She couldn't let this get to her. _I have to stay strong_, Dani told herself.

"Should we call the police?" she spoke after she managed to calm herself down again. Dani had no idea what the protocol was in this case. Never before did she had to deal with a dead body _in her kitchen_.

"No," Jax spoke. "Like I said, I'll fix it."

Dani rubbed her hands against her head, trying to think clearly. "You have to fix it _now_," she demanded. They couldn't be found like this. This was a homicide, a coldblooded murder. All of them would go to prison and prison wasn't on her schedule right now.

"I know," he replied. Jax placed his hand on her waist, leading her to the backdoor. "Juice will take you home now, okay? I'll take care of this."

She agreed with Jax. She didn't like to leave this up to him, as it happened in her café, but she had to let him do this his way. Tomorrow everything would be like it never even happened. No one would ever talk about it and Harrison would be gone completely.

"Come on," Juice said with a soft smile, trying to reassure her.

* * *

Juice insisted on staying until Jax returned to her. Dani had agreed, but told him she wanted to try to catch some sleep if he didn't mind. She got Bruce to sleep with her on the bed, as she really didn't want to be alone.

Sleep was impossible. It seemed as if his body was engraved in her memory, flashing before her eyes every time she closed them. Instead she watched her puppy sleep. He looked so peaceful, not a care in the world. Dani tried to follow his lead, figuring that if she closed her eyes she had to fall asleep sooner or later. Maybe she could even enter that state of peacefulness as well.

She opened her eyes as soon as she heard the front door opening, not sure if she had been sleeping or not. Holding her breath so she could hear more clearly, Dani listened to Jax talking to Juice.

"It's been taken care of," Jax spoke.

"She's in the bedroom," Juice replied.

"You should go home, we got a big day tomorrow."

While Juice left, Jax slowly entered the bedroom, quietly moving over to her bed in case she was sleeping.

"Hey," Dani whispered. She pushed the duvet she had covered herself with from her body and made room for him. Bruce had woken up and gotten annoyed by Jax, so he retreated to his basket in the corner of the room.

"You okay?" Jax asked. He positioned himself next to her. She lifted her head and placed it on his chest. The soft beating of his heart was surprisingly soothing.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow," she suggested, closing her eyes.

With Jax pressed against her, it seemed that at least some of her worries had disappeared. He was here now, which meant everything had been taken care of. The threat was over and they were safe. For the first time since she had been home, the corpse didn't flash before her eyes. Instead she saw nothing, which was fine by her.

While Jax stroked her hair, Dani finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

"Good morning, babe," Jax said, when Dani opened her eyes. She smiled softly, as she blinked a couple of times to regain her vision. Judging by the amount of light streaming in the bedroom, they had slept for a pretty long time, considering the situation. Bruce was also still asleep in his basket, his paw twitching every now and again.

"Good morning," she replied. With her hand she stroked her hair out of her face and sat up a little straighter so she could face Jax.

"Do you wanna talk about last night, or…?"

Dani shook her head. "Look, maybe it's best if we don't talk about it anymore, okay? I think it's best if I don't know what exactly had happened. If we never talk about it we can almost pretend it didn't happen."

She didn't want to be reminded off a dead body every time she walked into her kitchen. The sooner she forgot about this incident, the better. Harrison was gone now, nothing could happen to her.

"Fine by me," Jax nodded.

"I do want you to know that I'm really grateful for you protecting me like that," Dani spoke. "And I hope you never have to do it again."

Jax had not been kidding when he told her he would kill for her. His actions had shown Dani how much he cared about her. She doubted he would go off and kill people for everyone he knew. It was yet another reminder of why she loved Jax.

"Me neither," Jax laughed.

"I love you, Jax," she suddenly blurted it. Had she ever told him that face to face? Dani couldn't remember, but after last night she needed to tell him those words.

"I love you too," he replied softly, before leaning forward to give her a kiss.

* * *

A part in her dreaded to return to the café, but she had to pretend everything was just like it was before. The only way she was ever going to get over _a dead body in her kitchen_, was if she was going to ignore it had ever happened. Jax, Chibs, and Juice had to be erased from her mind, along with the bloody kitchen and the lifeless body that was once Harrison.

For as far as she could remember, Dani did not have any nightmares that night, which could only be a good sign. Jax being by her side had probably helped as well, and she made a mental note to ask him over again tonight if he did not have any club business he had to attend.

Dani made sure she was the first one to arrive at the café, opening everything up and letting Bruce wander around. After everything had been set up she had worked up the courage to check out the kitchen.

Carefully she opened the door, letting it open all the way before she went inside to switch on the lights. Her heart beat fast as the room illuminated, anxious to see what she would find. But the kitchen was completely clean. The body was gone and the blood spatters that had covered the floor and counter had all been cleaned off. It even _smelled_ clean.

Dani took in a deep breath and released it slowly. Everything was gone so everything was alright. She could still remember exactly where the body had been lying on the floor, but she figured she would forget over time. Patience was key.

She heard someone entering the café.

"Hey, Bruce!" Lana greeted the dog. Dani heard her footsteps closing in on her. "Everything okay, Dani? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Dani turned around. "Everything is absolutely fine," she smiled faintly.

Harrison was gone, and he was never coming back.

* * *

**A/N:** Woohoo! He's finally gone :) I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Please let me know what you think, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts! See you next time :D


	14. Chapter 14

Even though the threat had been over, Dani didn't want to risk an incident like this again. She did not expect it to happen anytime soon, but she still felt strongly about wanting to protect herself. The dog Jax bought her had given her a sense of security, but she wanted to take it one step further.

She parked her car in Gemma's driveway, parking it behind the Caddy. By the looks of it Clay wasn't at home, which would be for the better.

Dani got out and made her way over to the front door, which opened before she could knock. "You're fast," she remarked, stepping inside after Gemma stepped aside to let her pass.

"Saw you arriving," Gemma arrived. "Come in. I've got a few you can take a look at."

Dani had called Gemma this morning, asking if she might have a gun she could borrow. She had thought about buying one, but after looking up all the details online she figured it would be a lot easier to get one illegally. Normally she was all about obeying the law, but the idea of having to wait 10 days before she could pick up her gun put her off.

She had called in sick to work, as she wanted to get the gun today. Maybe she'd check by the café later and pretend she had started feeling better, as she felt rather guilty for not coming in.

They moved to the dining area. Gemma moved behind the table and opened up what looked like a shoe box where she had stored all her guns. One by one she laid them out on the table.

"Jesus, Gemma. How many do you have?" Dani said, letting her eyes scan all the different kind of guns that where laying before her. She had absolutely no gun knowledge, but she figured Gemma had plenty.

"I gotta have options," she replied, placing the final one on the table. "You can pick any one you want, darling."

Dani stared at the guns, not sure which one to pick. Was she to go for the shiny silver one or an all-black? She had no idea where to start.

"If you want one that has good grip and is easy to hold, I suggest that one," Gemma said, pointing to the black one Dani had been looking at.

She nodded and picked it up, holding it carefully in her hands.

"Don't worry the safety is on. Does it feel good?"

Dani nodded. This felt even better than expected. Like Gemma said, the gun was easy to hold and handled well. It was small, but not too small. She could already see herself carrying it in her handbag and placing it under the cash register in the café. Why did she never think of this sooner?

"Feels good," she nodded. "Thanks, Gemma. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, baby," Gemma smiled. "Does Jax know about this?"

A little uneasy, Dani shook her head. She hadn't told him, afraid he might get angry or something. He always carried multiple weapons with him, but she didn't know how he felt about her carrying a weapon. Dani knew she had to tell him eventually, but first she wanted to get comfortable with the weapon.

"That's alright, he doesn't have to know everything."

"I'll tell him," she replied. "Just not right now."

Gemma started to place the other guns back into the box, storing them neatly. Dani kept her eyes fixed on her own gun, taking in every detail. She felt empowered, holding it. There was no reason for her not to feel safe anymore in the store. She had taken every precaution she could possibly take, so everything should be absolutely fine for now on.

"Oh, Gemma? I've been meaning to ask," Dani started. "Any news on Wendy lately?"

Gemma put the lid on the box. "No, haven't spoken to her. Maybe I should check up on her sometime. Baby is still my grandchild."

Dani nodded. "Maybe I could come with you? If it's alright with you."

"Of course," Gemma nodded. She took a step backwards and moved towards Dani, facing her. "I'm glad your with my son, Dani. You'll do great as an old lady."

"I'm doing my best," Dani replied with a smile, a little overwhelmed by the compliment.

* * *

She was back at home browsing the internet for some baking supplies when she heard a knock on her door. Dani pushed herself upwards and walked over to the door, peaking behind the blinds. She already figured it was Jax so she quickly let him in.

"Hey," she greeted him, giving him a kiss.

"I stopped by at the café but they told me you were sick," Jax said, following her inside, closing the door behind him.

"Not really sick, just tired," Dani spoke, moving behind the computer again. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," Jax replied, taking a seat at the dining table behind her. "Just some club business, nothing to worry about. What are you doing?"

"Looking for baking supplies, nothing exciting," Dani said.

"Oh yeah, I remember Lana saying something about running low on cake when I was there," Jax laughed.

Dani scoffed. "Then she should bake them herself. I don't have to do everything."

Her ringtone suddenly started playing. Dani wouldn't be surprised if that was Lana right now. Whenever she took a day off or stayed at home sick she was stalked by her staff, asking her about how the coffeemaker worked, on what setting the oven should be put, and what not. "Could you grab that for me real quick?" Dani asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the screen as she added some stuff to her basket in the web store she was visiting.

She was kind of lost in her shopping when she suddenly noticed her ringtone had stopped playing. Why did Jax not pick up? Slowly she came to the realization that the gun was still in the same bag as her phone.

Dani shot around on her chair, seeing Jax standing next to her bag, holding the gun in his hands. "Jax…" she said, wanting to explain herself.

"Since when do you have a gun?" he asked her a little puzzled.

"Today," she replied honestly. "I wanted to tell you but I forgot."

"You forgot you got a gun?" Jax continued. "Where did you get this? Is it legal?"

"Not exactly," Dani replied. She quickly moved closer to him, trying to take the gun, but he kept holding it, examining it closely.

"Did you get this from Gemma?"

"Yes... Is that a problem?"

"Did you get this because of what happened?" Jax said, making her look in his eyes.

She couldn't lie to him, but above all, she didn't _want_ to lie to him. Their relationship should be based on trust and honesty, not on lies. "Yes. I got it because it makes me feel safe. I'm just scared it could happen again, and I know you got me Bruce, but I felt like getting a gun would make me feel more secure."

Jax nodded, understanding. "You should've come to me. I could've given you one."

"I know," Dani admitted. "But I didn't want to ask you for another thing. You've done so much for me already, so I asked Gemma."

Jax placed the gun on the table and cupped her face with his hands. "You can come to me for anything, babe. I don't mind, okay?"

Dani smiled softly, butterflies rising in her stomach. Sometimes she wondered how she was so lucky. How did she manage to win Jax all for herself?

"Besides, have you ever shot a gun before?" he asked.

"No…" Dani said softly. She had never owned a gun before, let alone shot one.

"You want me to teach you?" Jax suggested. "It's really easy once you get the hang of it."

* * *

Jax had set up some targets in the parking lot at TM. Dani asked if they wouldn't get arrested for doing this, but he assured her it would be fine. Apparently the cops didn't even bother with them anymore as they did this all the time.

"Hold it high, like this," Jax explained. He stood behind Dani, her back touching his chest. He had his hands on hers as he showed her how to hold the gun.

Dani did as he told her, and held it high. With Jax pressed so close against her, she was enjoying this a little more than she should. If it weren't for the whole of SAMCRO watching them, she would've turned around and kissed him right there.

"Pull the trigger when you're ready."

Dani fired immediately, feeling confident with Jax behind her. The bullet went so fast she couldn't even see where it went, but when she blinked a couple of times she noticed it was actually close to the target.

"That's pretty good," Jax smiled.

"How can it not be with you helping me?" Dani teased, knowing Jax had had a lot of practice with guns. She didn't know much about what SAMCRO was up to, but she wasn't stupid.

SAMCRO's involvement in illegal business was hardly a secret around Charming. The club kept up their good reputation by organizing a lot of charity runs and events. Dani would never commence in that kind of business, but she didn't condemn Jax for doing so.

She shot another one, this time hitting the target almost perfectly. Her smile widened, this was actually quite fun.

"Wanna try it alone?" Jax asked. He took a step back to let Dani shoot on her own.

The gun felt slightly heavier in her hand once Jax was gone, but she figured she would just raise her arm a little higher. Closing one eye slightly, Dani aimed at the target. Before shooting, she took in a deep breath, trying to keep it as still as she could. When she opened her eyes again, she took a look at the target, realizing she had the target almost perfectly again.

Dani turned around happily to face Jax, glowing with pride. "This is fun!" she exclaimed, turning back around again to take aim again.

She knew a static object was obviously a lot easier to hit than a moving one, but shooting the gun gave her confidence. Seeing it hit the target felt satisfying.

"Well, let's just hope you never get to show off your skills," Jax chuckled.

"Nah, I'm perfectly fine with shooting at these things," Dani said, happily taking another shot.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi guys! :D Here's another chapter for you all. I'm getting really sick so even though that sucks it does mean I get to write more since I have to stay in bed the whole time, so keep a look out for more updates this week :) Hopefully you liked this chapter and please please please leave a review :D


	15. Chapter 15

The weeks seemed to pass by in a whirlwind. Between the café and Jax, Dani managed to keep herself busy, hardly finding any time for herself. The café remained very busy, which on one hand was exciting but on the other hand very tiring. She had thought about maybe expanding the business, moving to a bigger place to handle the rise in customers, but the thought of remodeling gave her headaches so she abandoned them.

She had hired new personnel to help her ease the workload, but so far they were consuming a lot of her time since they had to be trained. Dani put Lana to the task, but she proved to be too nice to provide the new employees with any constructive criticism so she ended up doing anything by herself.

Luckily, Jax stopped by a lot, which helped her keep her sanity. Seeing him made her as happy as could be and she enjoyed every second she spent with him. Sometimes, Dani still found it hard to believe she was with him after all those years of wishing.

Dani had finally been able to take her first coffee break after a very busy morning. Her new employee Darren was managing the café alone for the first time, since she was hiding in the kitchens trying to get some peace and quiet. It would both be a test for him, as well as an opportunity for Dani to relax and try not to go insane.

She pushed herself on the counter, trying not to spill her coffee. The kitchen seemed to block out any noise coming from the café itself, much to her delight. Sometimes, she could still see Harrison laying on the floor before her, but whenever it happened she quickly tried to think of other things.

The nightmares she had were getting better, Harrison not appearing as often than before. It seemed like a good sign of progress, and Dani thanked the café for that. It kept her so busy she had hardly any time to think of anything else.

Her phone started ringing. Dani sighed as she placed her mug of coffee next to her, kind of cursing whoever was calling her during her break. She retrieved her phone from her pocket, not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

"What," she snapped. It came out a little more harshly than she had anticipated.

"You're in a good mood," Gemma's voice said on the other side of the line. "Well, I'm about to make it a whole lot better for you. Wendy has OD'd. She's in the hospital."

"Are you serious?" Dani said, clutching her phone. Wendy was still pregnant with Jax's child, what was she thinking taking drugs while carrying? Was she insane?

"Afraid I am," Gemma said. "The child has born prematurely, they're operating on him right now."

"Holy shit," Dani replied. "Does Jax know?"

"Of course. He's worried. You should go and see him, he's probably at St. Thomas. I'm going there right now."

* * *

Dani had to leave the café in the hands of Darren, but to be safe she called Lana for back up. After hearing the news she gave up her free day to work, telling her she would stay as long as was necessary. Dani didn't know for how long she'd be gone, but Jax needed her right now so it did not matter.

She spotted Jax sitting in the waiting room of the hospital. The baby had gone into surgery about half an hour ago, but they hadn't told him how long he would be in for. She quickly rushed towards him, embracing him in a hug.

"Are you okay? I just heard the news."

"Yeah," Jax said, his hands on the small of her back. "It's all happening so fast."

"I know, baby," Dani said, releasing him. She kept her hands on his neck, looking him in the eye. "I'm sure everything will be alright."

Jax took her hand and led her back to where he was seated. "I'm not sure, Dani. They say he's pretty bad. He's only got a 20 percent chance to live."

"Well, that stuff doesn't mean anything," Dani reassured him. "It's just a number so that if they fuck up they don't look bad. He will be just fine. He's a Teller, after all."

"Like that means anything," Jax replied with a half smile, referring to his father.

The fact that Jax had a son now troubled Dani a little. They had to talk about this. How were they going to make it work if the boy lived? A baby wasn't something they could just ignore and hope it would go away. Dani had hoped they still had a couple of months to figure things out, but with the baby born prematurely, they had to figure it out right now.

"Jax," Dani started, her hand on his knee. "I know this isn't exactly the best timing, but we do need to talk about this. How are we gonna make this work?"

Jax shook his head. "I don't know, Dani. Hell, I don't even know if the kid is gonna live. We'll talk about it after the surgery okay?"

Dani nodded, a little surprised by his comment. It seemed as if he was actively trying to avoid talking about it.

"I gotta call, Clay," he said, before abruptly standing up and going outside.

* * *

With Jax leaving so abruptly, Dani decided to find Wendy. She didn't know if she was allowed to visit her, but she had the sudden urge to go see how she was doing. Dani wanted to know why Wendy did it. Why did she risk both the lives of her child and herself?

After wandering around for some time on the maternity ward, Dani finally found her room. Wendy had gotten a room of her own, and when she opened the door she noticed it was very dark inside. The curtains had been left closed and Wendy herself was staring away in the dark.

Dani's heart started to pound as she set foot inside the room. Maybe this wasn't the best idea… What was she going to say? The last time she had seen Wendy was at the opening of the café and she hadn't been particularly nice to her.

"Wendy?" Dani spoke, cautiously moving closer.

Wendy looked absolutely horrible. Her hair was a tangled mess, she was sweaty and down right didn't look healthy at all. There were multiple IV's sticking from her arm and a heart monitor was bleeping in the background.

"How are you?" she continued.

Wendy turned her head around, her eyes growing wider when she saw Dani. "Have you come here to spite me?" she hissed.

"No," Dani said, shaking her hand. She remained standing next to the bed. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. This must be hard for you as well."

"Like you care," Wendy scoffed. "I know you all hate me. It's alright, I'm fine with it now."

Dani knew she was right. Before today, she wouldn't have cared, probably no one at SAMCRO cared. But after what happened Dani started thinking about how maybe she should've cared. How could they blame this on Wendy, when they weren't there to help her? Everyone knew Wendy was a junkie. This was also to be blamed on them, they should've stepped in.

"Look," Dani started. "Not everyone may like you, but you shouldn't blame what happened on yourself, okay? We weren't there to help you. I wasn't paying attention. I should've helped you."

Wendy raised her eyebrows. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes!" she continued. "We all knew you had an addiction, and we all choose to ignore it. This is as much on us as it is on you."

* * *

When Dani had returned she found that Jax had gone. Instead she had found Gemma, who told her there was some club business, telling her she should go home. Feeling very tired, Dani decided to do so, but she found herself unable to sleep until Jax was home.

She had made herself a comfy bed on the couch, taking pillows from the bedroom and a fleece blanket. The tv was broadcasting some movie, but she couldn't remember which one it was as she wasn't really paying attention.

She told herself to talk to Jax as soon as he got home. This thing about Wendy needed to be settled.

Dani couldn't remember how long she had been waiting when she finally heard the front door opening. Jax had practically moved in her house since a few weeks.

"Where have you been?" Dani asked, before yawning. What time was it?

"Something with the club, nothing special," Jax said.

"Oh," Dani replied. "Well, I went to see Wendy today…"

"You did?" Jax said a little absent mindedly. He took out a cigarette, lighting it.

Dani pushed herself out of her comfortable fort of pillows and made her way over to him. "She's in very bad shape, Jax. You should see her."

"Maybe tomorrow."

Dani's eyes fell on his shirt that was tucked beneath his hoodie. She squeezed her eyes together. Was that blood? Slowly she unzipped the hoodie, confirming it indeed was dried up blood.

"I hope this isn't yours," she said, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"It isn't," Jax shook his head. He looked away from her gaze and moved past her, walking towards the bathroom.

Dani remained standing in the kitchen. She heard him turning on the shower. Seeing the blood brought back memories of the incident with Harrison. It also made her wonder what SAMCRO was up to a lot of the time. Maybe she _did_ wanted to know, after all.

She always heard the saying that an old lady only makes it if she knows nothing, or everything. Maybe after all what happened, Dani was ready to know everything.

* * *

**A/N****:** Woohoo, another chapter! I know, fast right? I wrote it in one go today and I figured, why not upload it? :) So this is where I tie it in with season 1 of SoA. It will follow the storylines except for Tara of course. Also, everything that Jax does won't be shown in detail since this story isn't written in his POV, so it won't be like you are _reading_ every episode instead of _watching_, hope that makes sense. I'm gonna add some stuff to do with Dani to make it more interesting, don't you worry ;)

Anyway, like always, please review, I love reading your responses and hopefully until next time! Bye!


	16. Chapter 16

Dani was getting ready to go to work, when she heard a knock on her door. Frowning, she placed her bag back on the kitchen table.

"Coming!" she yelled, quickly trying to dig the keys out of her bag.

She could only hope that whoever was at her door would be gone quickly, as she was already running late. There was still a lot that needed to be done at the café. Besides, she had to open up and it was already 9:45.

"Sorry to disturb you, ma'am," a police officer spoke when she opened the door. Next to him stood another cop who was watching her closely.

"Can I help you?" Dani asked a little nervously. Did they find out about Harrison? Was she going to be arrested? Her mind was all over the place. Had Jax already been picked up?

"We would like you to come with you to the station for questioning," the officer said.

Dani's heart skipped a beat while her eyes grew wider. If she hadn't looked suspicious, they would definitely suspect her now.

"Can I get my bag first?" she asked, her voice slightly trembling.

"Sure, go ahead," the officer said.

It was strange that they would let her get her bag when she was suspected of murder. What were they bringing her in for? Were they even going to arrest her or would that happen at the police station? Dani had never run into trouble with the law, so she didn't have any idea how it all worked.

She returned with her bag tightly clutched between her arms and her chest. After closing the door behind her, she walked with the police officers to their car, getting in the back. Dani hoped none of the neighbors were home, as news like this traveled fast in a town as small as Charming.

"Can I ask what I'm arrested for?" she blurted out once she was seated in the back.

The cops both chuckled. "Arrested?" the one behind the wheel said. "You're not being arrested. We just have a few questions for you, nothing to worry about."

But how could she not worry when she was seated in the back of a police car after being picked up? However, if she wasn't going to be arrested, maybe this had nothing to do with Harrison? Dani couldn't recall doing anything else like that in the past few days. What the hell were they bringing her in for?

The drive seemed to take almost an hour. Nervously she watched Charming pass by as they got closer to the station, her mind darting all over the place. She tried to think of reasons for her being brought in, but besides Harrison nothing seemed to come to mind.

Her cell phone was in her bag, and it was very tempting to text Jax, asking him where he was. But Dani didn't dare to. The cop in the passenger's seat kept glancing to her in the mirror of the car, so instead she kept her eyes fixed on the outside world.

She remained seated until one of the cops opened the door for her so she could get out, as she was not sure what the protocol was. If she wasn't under arrest, did that mean she could just do what she wanted?

They brought her inside the police station and into a questioning room. The room was small and had no windows, which made her a little claustrophobic. Her heart started racing when they told her to sit down as they sat down in front of her.

"We have a couple of questions we'd like you to ask," the cop started. The one who had driven them over here seemed to have disappeared.

Dani glanced to her left, where there was a mirrored wall. She couldn't help but wonder who was standing behind it, probably monitoring every move she made.

"We have heard you are Jax Teller's old lady?" he asked.

Dani frowned. "Yes?" she replied, not sure what that had to do with anything. There wasn't anything she knew about club business.

"So do you know about the explosion that happened yesterday?"

"Yeah, I have heard about it," she answered. Dani tried to chose her words carefully, as she didn't know exactly what they were trying to get out of her. What if she said the wrong thing and brought whatever SAMCRO was doing in jeopardy?

"But you don't know what happened?"

"That is correct."

Nervously she played with the hem of her shirt, trying to avoid eye contact with the cop. His intense look made her even more nervous than she already was.

"We have found two bodies on the scene. Know anything about that?"

"I just told you, I don't know," Dani said, a little impatient.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fucking sure," she snapped. "Jax doesn't tell me anything, okay!"

"I find that hard to believe," the cop continued.

Dani figured he was trying to push her in telling him something. But the more questions the guy asked, the more annoyed she was starting to get. This was exactly the reason why she didn't want to know what Jax was up to.

"It's the truth. I suggest you ask him if you want to know anything else."

The cop stood up, pushing his chair backwards. "Then I guess that this will do." He continued by opening the door. "You're free to go."

"Okay," she nodded.

It turned out the cops had no idea what happened to Harrison, otherwise they would've brought it up for sure. She could only hope SAMCRO wouldn't get into trouble over the bodies they found. Dani didn't know if Jax had anything to do with it, but she figured if he was, he would've taken care of it.

She stepped outside the questioning room. Someone in the back of the police station caught her attention, and when she looked closer she noticed it was Jax, storming towards her.

"Why did you bring her in?" Jax demanded when he got close. He stared the cops intensely in the eyes while placing his hand on the small of Dani's back, pushing her behind him.

"For questioning. There was no harm done," the cop replied. Dani could sense a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Questioning for what?" Jax replied.

"About the explosion."

"Whatever happened there. She definitely had nothing to do with it," he said. "I suggest you never pick her up for something like this again, okay?"

The cop nodded slowly before Jax pushed her towards the exit. Her heart beating in her chest as they went outside. She was kind of surprised by his hostility back in there.

"Are you okay?" Jax said, once they were standing before his bike.

"Yeah," Dani replied, a little confused. "How did you know I was here?"

He handed her a spare helmet and swung his leg over his bike, waiting for her to be seated behind him.

"Your neighbor saw you leaving with the cops, she called me."

"That was nice of her," Dani mumbled. Probably the whole town knew she was picked up the police by now.

"Jax?" she quickly spoke again before he was able to drive away. "Did you have something to do with what happened with the explosion? With the bodies?"

Curiosity had taken over. Maybe she did want to know after all. Hell, she was just picked up for questioning, she kind of deserved to know what had happened.

"It was our warehouse, yes. But I had nothing to do with the bodies, I promise."

* * *

Not feeling like returning to work after what had happened, Jax had dropped her off at home. Dani had invited him in, since he did not have to return to the clubhouse for a little time.

"Dani," Jax began.

Dani turned her body to him, a mug in each of her hand. She was in desperate need of a cup of coffee.

"This won't happen again, okay? This will be the first and last time."

Dani smiled softly. "That's okay. I believe you."

"No, babe, I'm serious." He raised from the chair and stood before her, cupping her face. "This will never ever happen again."

He leaned forward to kiss her. Responding quickly, Dani placed the mugs behind her, before wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him back while his hands slid down to her thighs, picking her up and pushing her on the counter.

Dani wrapped her legs around him, grabbing his back so she wouldn't fall. Jax broke off the kiss, moving his head to her neck, placing soft kisses on her collarbone.

She had to admit that him sticking up for her really had turned her on, and she couldn't stop herself when Jax's hands reached the hem of her shirt, lifting it over her head.

* * *

Of course Gemma had also heard about her police adventure. About ten minutes after Jax had left, Gemma had turned up on her doorstep.

"I can't believe they just picked you up," she spoke after Dani opened the door for her. Gemma didn't wait to be invited in and threw her bag on the dining table before getting seated. "They never did that with me."

"Maybe they figured I'd break and tell them something," Dani suggested, following Gemma's lead and sitting down on the chair next to her.

"You didn't tell them anything, did you?"

"I didn't know anything and if I did, you know that I wouldn't rat."

"That's true, baby."

"So," Dani started. "Any news on Wendy?"

She had planned on stopping by later this afternoon, but after what had happened she didn't really feel like it. Knowing Gemma, she would probably drop by every day, checking on her grandson, making sure he'd make a full recovery.

"Yeah, she had an overdose," Gemma replied emotionlessly.

"What?" Dani replied, a little shocked. "Are you serious?"

She still wasn't Wendy's biggest fan, but she never expected her to overdose again. After what had happened to her son, Dani didn't figure she would be that stupid to do it again.

"Yeah. Might had something to do with me giving her the drugs."

"What the fuck, Gemma!" Dani exclaimed. "Are you insane? Why would you do that?"

"I was trying to protect you and Jax, sweetheart. Making sure she'd never tried to get custody of my grandson."

"Well, I appreciate your gesture but I think there were other ways of making that clear to her. You basically gave her the means to kill herself."

"Yeah, well. What can I say?"

Dani raised her eyebrows, surprised by Gemma's actions. She knew Gemma would do anything to protect the family, but she was taking things a little far. Dani made a mental note to stop by Wendy tomorrow, see how she's doing, letting her know that not everyone hated her guts.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay for protective Jax! (and protective gemma). I think this chapter gives you a pretty good indication of how I'm following the episodes itself. A lot is left out and I'm making stuff up for Dani as I go. I'm working on a couple interesting plotlines ;) I also got a new SoA shirt today, which has given me a lot of motivation to write, haha.

But on a more serious note: no reviews on the last chapter? Come on guys, you can do better than that! :D Please please please review! I LOVE reading them and they motivate to write and update quickly, so please leave a message if you can.

Thanks and I'll see you next time :D


	17. Chapter 17

Once a year, the whole town comes together for the fun fair. It is celebrated in the park and is generally enjoyed by all the inhabitants of Charming. Compared to this event, Dani's fundraiser was nothing. There were stands with games, stands with food an drinks. There were rides which had come all the way from Sacramento and a stage on which performances would be held.

Dani had organized her own food stand, which sold baked goods and refreshing drinks. For once she wasn't in charge, but she had made Lana boss for the day. It had been a while since she had taken a day off to do something fun, and after all that had happened over the past weeks, she had deserved some fun. Besides, SAMCRO was attending as well, and she didn't want to give up time with Jax for baked goods.

They had dropped off Gemma and Clay somewhere, so Dani and Jax made their way over to the Ferris wheel. The rest of the SAMCRO guys went to the arcade, hoping to knock down the clown who was yelling at them when they passed him before.

Above in the Ferris wheel, Dani could see the whole of Charming. Up here everything was so quiet and soothing, the noise from the fun fair slowly fading away as they got higher.

"This is nice," Dani spoke, letting the wind blow in her face.

"Yeah," Jax agreed. He placed his arm behind her, his thumb softly stroking her shoulder.

The Ferris wheel remained stationary for a few minutes so other people could get in, a perfect opportunity for them to enjoy the view, _and talk_.

"I'm going to see the baby later today with Gemma," Dani began. She didn't want to keep any secret from him. It was only right to let him know. "If that's okay with you?"

Jax nodded. "Yeah, that's fine."

He seemed to be a little absent minded, replying without any emotion is his voice. Dani knew the baby was still a difficult topic for them, but she couldn't ignore the kid forever. One day she had to face him.

"Are you sure?" Dani asked, hoping to get more of an answer out of him.

"Yeah, I told you."

Dani raised her eyebrows upon hearing his answer, but decided not to drop the subject just yet. "Have you been to see him?"

It remained silent for a few seconds, Jax staring off in the distance. "No," finally said, not looking her in the eye, but his gaze still fixed on the highway on the edge of town.

Dani sighed. She figured he had probably gone to see his son at least once, but apparently he never went. The baby might look a bit scary in an incubator, with all kinds of tubes sticking out of him, but that was not a reason not to go. He was Jax's son for crying out loud. Not a toy that could be thrown away whenever he got sick of it.

"You have to go see him" Dani stated. "He's your _son_, Jax."

"I can't see him," he replied.

She frowned, not understanding why. If it was her own son, she would've been by his side day and night.

"Why?" she asked, when it got clear Jax wasn't going to elaborate.

"What if he dies? He's in bad shape, Dani."

"What if he lives?" She placed her hand on his cheek, turning his head towards her, forcing him to look her in the eye. "How are you gonna explain to your little boy that you were never around when he was in the hospital? That his mother is a junkie and his father to scared to see him. He's your flesh and blood, Jax. You can't turn your back to him. You are all he has."

* * *

Dani hoped her talk with Jax had left an impression on him. For now, there was nothing more that she could do. It was his choice to visit the baby or not, and she could hardly force him. However it would be best for both the baby and him if he went to see the little boy.

"Wendy named the kid, did you hear that?" Gemma spoke, turning the steering wheel to the left and reversing the car into a parking spot at the hospital. "His name is Abel."

"That's a good name," Dani nodded, figuring Wendy would name the kid sooner or later. She thought it was a good idea to name him. It made it look like they had the faith he would survive.

They got out of the car and started heading inside. Dani had wanted to check on Wendy as well, but since she had to ride home with Gemma she decided against it. The stuff Gemma did to Wendy was unacceptable, and she would understand if Wendy never wanted to see her ever again.

"You have never seen him, have you?" Gemma asked as they were moving down the hallway to the maternity ward.

"Nope," Dani shook her head. It was about time she saw Jax's son. If he wouldn't go see him, then she should.

"He's beautiful, you'll see. Looks just like Jax, only a little smaller."

Gemma knew exactly where Abel's room was, making it easy for them to find it. The little boy had a whole room to his own. Next to the door was a huge window so you could look in, but Gemma told her she'd like to close the blinds when she was inside. The baby was laying in an incubator, protected against it surroundings. There were a few chairs and blankets for the visitors and Dani noticed a lovely bouquet of flowers standing on the table at the end.

Dani softly shuffled closer to Abel, her heart pounding. He was small, _really _small. He was covered with tubes, monitoring every vital organ. A tiny blue Sons of Anarchy beanie covered his head. Gemma was right, he did look like Jax. He had the same blue eyes and once he got older, he would probably have the same head of blonde hair.

Gemma sat down in one of the chairs, but Dani couldn't keep her eyes of the little man. There was something fascinating about watching him dream, his arm twitching every so often. This was Jax's flesh and blood she was looking at. Maybe one day, she could have a baby as well.

"What are his chances of survival?" Dani asked after a moment.

"Pretty good," Gemma said. "Doctors say he's doing better than initially expected. But he's a Teller, so he's strong."

"Thank god," Dani mumbled.

"Wendy is going to rehab," Gemma continued. "Which means the kid has no mom…"

Dani turned around and let her eyes fall on Gemma, slowly raising her eyebrows.

"But he has _you_," Gemma added.

"Gemma, I don't know. I'm not ready to have a kid."

She was being honest. How would she manage everything? Jax didn't have a lot of time for the child, but neither did she. Dani had hoped Wendy would be fit enough to take care of him, but seeing she was going to rehab that wasn't the case.

"Do you think I was ready when I had Jackson? Nobody is ready for a kid," Gemma said, rising from the chair to stand next to Dani. "But if someone can handle it, it's you."

* * *

Dani had been home for a few hours when Jax returned. She heard his bike from all the way down the street. Bruce was also picking up on it. It was amazing how fast the little pup learned to recognize all the noises around him.

Having missed him in the hospital, she eagerly jumped up from the couch and moved to the door, ready to embrace him as soon as he walked in.

"Hey," she smiled, as Jax appeared in the doorway. Dani kissed him before giving him a hug. When she let go of him she noticed a cut above his eye. "Something happen?"

"It's nothing," Jax smiled softly, taking off his gloves which revealed his bloody knuckles.

"Tell me about it," Dani spoke. She led Jax to the kitchen chair and nodded that he should sit down.

"I thought you didn't want to know?" Jax replied.

She found the first aid kid in the cabinet under the sink. "I do now."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," Dani nodded. "I _want_ to."

Too long had she gone without knowing anything he did. Dani doubted he would tell her _everything_, but anything was better than nothing. Him coming home beat up without her knowing what exactly had happened had taken a toll on her. They shouldn't have any secrets for each other.

"Okay," Jax began. "Oswald's kid, Tristen, she got raped at the carnival today."

"Holy shit," Dani said. She knew the kid pretty well. Tristen always wanted lemonade and a blueberry muffin whenever she came to the café. She was beautiful as well.

"Yeah, I know. Well, me and the guys went on the finding the rapist, and we did. Got into a little fist fight before, though."

"What happened to him?" Dani asked. She leaned forward to clean the small cut, glad the ones she had because of Harrison's thugs had disappeared almost entirely. Jax didn't even flinch as she touched it with an cotton swab.

It remained silent for a few seconds. "He's dead."

"Well, good riddance." The fact that she had seen a dead body had made her a lot colder and less tolerant. The guy deserved to be dead.

She took his hand and softly dabbed his knuckles clean.

"Abel looked good, Jax. There's a good chance he'll live," she continued. There was no way she could not bring him up, especially after everything what Gemma had said today. "Maybe I could help bring him up? You know, when he gets out of the hospital. I can try to make it work."

Jax raised his gaze from his hands to her eyes. "Are you serious?"

Dani nodded. "Yeah, I think I am."

Gemma had convinced her. She had to be a guardian to the boy, it would be selfish of her not to be. Wendy was in no position to be a mother and Jax couldn't be a single father. This was what needed to happen.

"If you want nothing to do with him, I can't – …" Jax tried to say.

"I want to. I really want to," Dani interrupted. "The boy needs a mother and maybe I can be that for him."

A smile unraveled on Jax's face. "I love you so much," he softly spoke, his hand behind her head, pushing her towards him. His lips found hers and that was when Dani knew she had made the right decision.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you all so much for the lovely comments. Wow! I'd also like to answer a question I got :)

Regarding the episodes and chapters: I will most of the time have one chapter per episode, unless it's an important one then I'll spread it out. Also I'm "skipping" a couple of them. In this case only a lot of Jax stuff happens, which Dani isn't able to witness. Oh, and also all the Tara stuff will be deleted as well, which allows me to skip quite a few of them. So that basically leaves Gemma's stuff, but I'm not gonna add everything that she does, because it's not her story so I don't want to focus on everything she does. Hope this clears everything up :)

Please review if you can and stay tuned for the next chapter, it'll be a surprising one ;)


	18. Chapter 18

After last night, she had finally convinced Jax to come along to the baby, visit him for the first time. But today had proven exactly how much time the club consumed. Jax was to go on some sort of run to Nevada. There was a problem with one of their businesses. He didn't need to elaborate what business exactly, as Dani knew from the start they were dealing in guns.

She felt a little sad he had to leave, but decided to visit the baby anyway. Since she settled on being a guardian, any bonding time between the two of them would be good. Maybe Abel could even grow up thinking Dani was his mom.

The more she thought about it, the more she was starting to get excited about the idea of becoming a mom. Gemma was right, nobody is ready for a kid. But Dani would make sure she would always be there for him, especially since Jax was away so often.

He told her he would be back in the evening, giving Dani the entire day to herself. In the morning she could work in the café and during the visiting hours in the evening she could visit Abel. Dani wasn't ready to call him her son yet, but she figured it would only be a matter of time before she could see the kid as her own.

"Say goodbye to Jax," she told Bruce. The pup skipped towards Jax, trying to bite his shoelaces playfully.

"I'll see you tonight, okay?" Jax smiled, he cupped her face before giving her a long kiss. "We'll go and see Abel tomorrow. I promise."

"I'd like that," Dani replied, giving him one last kiss before he really had to go.

* * *

The sterile smell of the hospital greeted her when she walked in. Today she decided on visiting Abel alone, as she really wanted to see him without Gemma stressing about Wendy or some other stuff.

Luckily she still remembered where his room was, so navigating towards it wasn't hard. She had found it soon enough. The blinds of the room were closed to give Abel a little privacy. Before she went in, she disinfected her hands. Taking in a deep breath, Dani opened the door.

Abel looked exactly the same as the day before. He was asleep in his incubator, his heart beating softly. A smile covered her face as she moved closer. Abel was going to be her _son_.

"Hey, Abel," she whispered when she reached him. She didn't know if he could hear her, but she'd like to believe he could.

Her eyes scanned every inch of his little body. His hand was so tiny and cute. It was as if she was beginning to notice all kinds of things about him that she hadn't seen the last time she had visited him.

The fact that Abel was going to be her son was exiting and scary at the same time. The baby would grow up calling her mommy and she would buy all kinds of presents for him. Yet the prospect of Wendy wanting custody was also there. Dani decided not to think about it and focus on Abel.

Managing everything was going to be hard, but she was blessed with a mother-in-law who would help her out in any way she could. Besides, Dani figured she could probably get Lana to babysit a few times as well, if necessary. It seemed as if everything was working out the way she wanted it to go.

The door opened. Dani turned her torso to see who was entering. "Hello," she said kindly to the nurse.

"Hello," the nurse replied with a smile. She was carrying a file which contained all the data about Abel.

"How's he doing?" Dani asked, looking at the file to see if she could pick up on something.

"Absolutely fine," the nurse said. "He´s a strong little boy."

"Yeah. He is."

Jax had also been born with the family flaw, but he never had any problems with it. His heart was working great, so Dani figured Abel's heart would turn out exactly the same. Like father like son.

"In a few days he can come out of the incubator," the nurse continued. "He's making good process. If he keeps this up, he can most definitely come out."

Dani's eyes lit up. "Really?" she smiled.

"Yeah," the nurse replied. "We'll monitor his vitals for the coming days and we'll definitely let you know if he's ready to leave the incubator."

* * *

Dani got a text message during the day from Jax that he wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning, so she didn't have to wait up for him. Since his text was a little vague, Dani decided to call him, asking for a little clarity. They didn't run into problems did they?

It took a while before Jax picked up, instantly making Dani concerned. "Hey," she spoke once she heard Jax's voice. "Everything all right? Your message was a little vague."

"Yeah, sorry babe. I didn't have much time," Jax said. Dani could hear people talking in the background.

"Problems?" she asked.

"We're patching over the Devil's Tribe. There's a party after so it will be some time before I get home."

Patch over's didn't happen that often, so this was definitely a special occasion. Dani had never witnessed one before.

"You got a place to sleep?"

"Yeah, we're all going to crash at their clubhouse."

"Okay," Dani nodded. "Don't go too crazy, okay?"

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jax chuckled.

"I love you," Dani said before he was able to hang up.

"I love you too, babe."

* * *

She got woken up by the sound of someone unlocking the door. Her first reaction was to grab her bag from the ground in which she had hidden her gun, but when she heard Jax's voice talking to Bruce she relaxed again.

Dani pushed herself on the bed after hanging on the floor, trying to grab her bag. Jax walked in, a soft smile covering his face.

"I've missed you," he told her.

"I've missed you too," she replied, smiling just as much.

He moved forward and crawled on the bed, leaning in for a kiss.

"Everything go alright?" Dani asked, her hand in his neck while he sat opposite from her.

"Yeah," Jax replied. "The Devil's Tribe are now officially SOA."

Dani gave him a kiss again. Even after being apart for only one day, she had already missed him a lot. She was in deeper than she thought.

"I'm going to take a shower, you wanna join me?" Jax said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"I gotta finish some paperwork," Dani said, looking at her watch. "I'll make it up to you later, okay?"

"Sounds good," Jax said with a mischievous smile, before disappearing out of the room.

Dani leaned back for a moment, his kiss still lingering in her lips. If she didn't had to work a late shift at the café, she would've stayed in bed with him all day.

She got up and wrapped herself in her silk robe, as she didn't feel like getting dressed for now. While heading to the kitchen for breakfast, she passed the bathroom. Jax often let the door wide open, and she couldn't help herself to peek inside.

Sometimes she wondered where Jax got his muscular body from, as he never really worked out. Dani figured it was just good genetics and it immediately made her mind wander to Abel, wondering if he would get muscular and tall as well when he got older.

Before stepping into the shower, Jax had placed his clothes on the ground. Not wanting them to get wet or wrinkly, Dani decided to pick them up. After such a long day, it would be best for her to wash them. Jax had a very long ride behind him, going all the way to Nevada and back in one day.

Dani gathered the clothes in her arms, taking them to the washing machine. She reached inside his pockets, making sure there wasn't anything in them that could clog the washing machine or could be break because of the water like his phone.

With her fingers she felt a piece of paper. She retrieved it, placing it inside her own pocket. The rest of the clothes she stashed in the washing machine, except for his cut which wasn't allowed to be washed.

After making sure all the settings were correct and pressing start, Dani retrieved the piece of paper again. She knew it was probably not in her place to look what it said, but she told herself she had to check if it was worth keeping or not.

Very curiously, she folded it open, letting her eyes scan the paper. In the bathroom, Dani heard Jax stepping out of the shower.

It felt like her heart stopped beating when she read what it said. Someone had written a phone number on the piece of paper, followed by the words, _call me_. A tiny heart was scribbled in the corner.

Jax poked his head around the door. He only had a bath towel covering him. "Hey," he said. "What are you doing?"

Dani's fingers started to tremble. "What is this?" She extended her arm to show him the note. Once he read it he ran his fingers through his hair, a concerned look covering his face.

"Dani," he began.

"Don't fucking lie to me," Dani spat. "What is this?"

She had heard stories about what happened on runs and patch over's before, but never did she dare to think those stories also applied to Jax.

He remained silent, which confirmed what she had already speculated. He had cheated on her.

"I want you out of my house," she ordered, trying to fight back the tears.

"Dani," Jax tried once again.

She turned around, yanked the washing machine open and pulled out his clothes before throwing them before his feet.

"I want you out _now_!"

* * *

Her hands trembling, she dialed Gemma's phone number. Dani needed someone to talk to right now. Somewhere she still hoped she would wake up from this terrible nightmare. Somewhere she still hoped this all wasn't true.

Dani had convinced herself she was the one for Jax. She was convinced he would stay faithful to her, but he had proven her wrong. How could he go from outing his love for her, to cheating on her? Dani simply didn't _understand_.

"Gemma?" she said, her voice raspy. "Jax cheated on me." Dani cut right to the chase, wanting to get it off her chest.

"Shit," Gemma replied. "You sure?"

"Yes," Dani replied. She couldn't control herself anymore. Tears started flowing down her cheek. "It happened last night."

"Fucking asshole," Gemma said. "During the patch over?"

"Yeah."

"Usually these things don't come back with them. Stuff like this happens, Dani. You gotta be cool with it because it's gonna happen more often. Clay does it, but as long as I don't know about it it's fine. What happens in Nevada, stays in Nevada."

How could she basically pardon this behavior? If she was going to be with Jax, he was going to have to commit himself to her 100%, and if he couldn't, this thing between them would be over. All of a sudden Dani regretted to agree being Abel's guardian.

_How could I have been so stupid?_

"Are you serious, Gemma?" Dani said. "If being an old lady means that you have to accept your partner cheating, then maybe I'm not cut out for this."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, please don't hate me! But to be fair, this kinda had to happen. Jax cheats about 3/4 times on Tara in the series so I guess I couldn't leave it out of this story. Besides sleeping around is also very much part of the whole MC world so I didn't want to ignore it. So once again, DON'T HATE ME please :( To reassure you, they'll get back together again (don't worry). Unlike the series, my story _will_ have a happy ending ;)

Anyway, let me know what you think of this plot twist and what you think/want to happen! :D See you next time!


	19. Chapter 19

Jax had cleared out all his stuff in matters of minutes. An empty feeling hung in the air. It felt if something was missing, but Dani tried to ignore the feeling. She walked up to her dog, cradling in her arm, holding him close.

"At least you won't ever cheat on me," she told Bruce, giving him a soft kiss on his head. The dog happily licked her hand, as if he was trying to sooth her, telling her everything would be alright.

Gemma's words still rang in her head, repeating over and over. Dani could not understand how she condoned this behavior, but she told herself she didn't have to. Cheating wasn't part of the relationship she wanted, so maybe she wasn't the right woman for Jax Teller after all.

She knew there was going to be a party at the clubhouse tonight, even though they had one last night. Every Thursday most of them got together to chill, drink, and apparently _cheat_.

Before today, Dani had to attend these parties. As an old lady that was expected of you, but she wasn't an old lady anymore. Nevertheless, she found herself wanting to go anyway. It would be a perfect opportunity to put Jax in his place, show him what he will miss. If he could have fun, so could she.

* * *

Dani had put on the tightest pair of jeans she could find. For the occasion, she also found a fancy top she had had for a long time but never got around to wearing it. Admiring herself in the mirror, she had to admit it to herself, _she looked good_.

While driving to the clubhouse, she started to wonder if she was actually allowed to come to these parties, since she wasn't with Jax anymore, but in the end she decided she didn't really care. They could hardly throw her out.

Before she had left, she had called Juice, telling him what was up. He had told her everything was going to be alright and that he was going to have a word with Jax. But Dani didn't think that was going to help.

Judging by the empty picnic tables outside, it appeared that everyone was inside. _Perfect_, Dani thought. This way she would get everyone's attention when going inside.

She lifted her head high and opened the door, feeling everyone in the room looking at her as she walked in. Dani didn't know how many people knew about their break-up, but with the outfit she was wearing she definitely got everyone's attention.

Dani spotted Juice sitting in the back, talking to Half-Sack who seemed to be off bar duty for once. She decided not to go looking for Jax, but letting him come to her, _if he'd dare_.

"Hey," Dani smiled, as she sat in between the two boys.

"Wow, Dani," Sack began. "You look great."

"Thanks," she nodded gratefully. It seemed like she had accomplished her mission.

"You doing alright?" Juice asked a little softly so Half-Sack wouldn't hear.

"Yeah, as good as can be expected," she replied. If she was honest, she felt like _shit_ and she had rather stayed in bed with a tub of ice cream, her dog and a sad movie, but this felt like a better plan.

"I heard about you and Jax," Half-Sack said. "Shame."

Dani shrugged, wondering how everyone knew so fast. "Where is he anyway?"

"Who? Jax? He's over there." Sack pointed towards the other side of the room, where she indeed found Jax leaning against the wall with a pitcher of beer in his hand. To his left Ima was standing, _naturally_.

His eyes met hers and for a moment she saw guilt in them. Quickly she looked away. This night was about making him jealous, making him _want_ her, not her pitying him.

A prospect she had never seen before approached her. "Can I get you a drink?" he asked her.

Looking at his patches, Dani figured he belonged to another chapter to the club. Ignoring Juice and Sack, she pushed herself up. "Yes, please," she spoke as she followed him to the bar.

The prospect was cute. He had short brown hair, and just a hint of stubble covered his face. Judging from the way his shoulders stuck out, he was built as well. Compared to Jax however, he was no match.

"What can I get you?" he asked her.

"Just a beer will do."

He waited until he got his drinks, before sliding the one for Dani over to her. She smiled faintly as she took a sip from it, hoping the alcohol would give her more courage to get through this evening.

Seeing Jax again was harder than she thought, and the fact that Ima was parading around him didn't sit well with her. Had she made a mistake? Shouldn't she have kicked him out? It was clear that she still loved him, but how could that feeling just fade away after being in love with him for so long?

"I've never seen you around before," Dani asked, trying to start a conversation and shut off her mind at the same time.

"Nah, I come with the guys from SAMDINO. Been prospecting for about half a year. I'm Felix, by the way." He offered her his hand, which she took just to be polite.

"Dani," she replied.

"Oh shit," Felix said concerned. "Jax Teller's old lady?"

"No… Not anymore," Dani replied emotionlessly.

"Thank god, I was starting to get worried for a second."

"No need to worry." Dani flashed him a smile.

"Can I just say that you look very beautiful tonight."

Normally she was not into this whole flirtatious bullshit, but tonight she decided to go with it. "Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself. Shouldn't you be tending the bar, though."

"Not tonight, baby."

She already knew she wasn't going to do _anything_ with this guy tonight, but she could still give him the illusion that she was.

Minutes passed while talking to the guy. Dani pretended to be interested, giggling at every joke he made. It was surprising how easy this guy was, the only thing she had to do was laugh and look pretty. Deep inside she knew what she was doing was wrong. But she wanted to let Jax know what it felt like.

She took a sip from her beer, realizing her glass was empty. In a small amount of time she had drank the entire glass. This was very unlike her, as she never drank much. A little confused she pushed the glass away from her, hoping Felix wouldn't ask if she wanted another one.

From the corner of her eyes she saw Chibs approaching. Dani's heart started to race as it became clear he was heading towards them.

"I suggest you take a walk, kid," he spoke sternly with his thick Scottish accent.

"What?" the prospect said a little dumbfounded.

Dani, too, was surprised by what Chibs was saying.

"You heard me. Go."

Felix frowned, but as a prospect he couldn't say no. Giving her one last look, he disappeared outside, leaving the two of them behind.

"Chibs, what the fuck," Dani hissed, wondering what was going on.

"Just trying to protect you, darling," Chibs replied.

"From who? Did Jax set you up to do this?"

Chibs cocked his head to the right. "He's really sorry, Dani."

"He cheated on me, but I can't talk to other guys?"

"His orders, not mine."

Dani raised her eyebrows. Her plan had worked. Jax had gotten jealous, even sending someone after the guy who was talking to her. She turned her head to look around the room, trying to see where he was spying on her, but he appeared to be nowhere in sight.

"Whatever, I'm going home. Tell Jax to stay away, okay?"

* * *

The night air felt chilly on her skin and she immediately regretted not taking a jacket with her. Slowly Dani started rubbing her arms as she stepped outside.

"Leaving already?" a voice she didn't want to hear said.

Dani turned her head towards Ima, her face showing no emotion. Ima was sitting on one of the picnic tables, smoking a cigarette. She looked as slutty as always.

"I heard you're not Jax's old lady anymore," she continued.

"So?" Dani snapped. She just really wanted to go home and lie in bed. Ima even had the talent to ruin the small things.

Ima shrugged, a devious smile playing on her lips. "You tell me."

Dani scoffed while she took a step forward closer to her. "Don't touch him, okay?"

"That's not for you to decide anymore. You gave up that right."

The tone in Ima's voice was what bothered Dani the most. She knew the whore would try to get with Jax, she probably never even stopped trying while they were together. This whole scenario was just _perfect_ for her.

"I'll fucking kill you if you touch him," Dani warned. "Have I made myself clear?"

What was Jax doing to her? Even after they split up he managed to have some sort of hold over her. Was she not ready to give him up yet?

"I'd like to see you try," Ima laughed, her shoulder brushing roughly against hers as she headed inside.

* * *

Dani had to try and oppress her frustrations as she was driving home. Ima had really gotten her blood boiling and she had to get out of there before she did anything stupid. It wasn't the first time an argument between her and Ima had escalated.

She swung the door open, ready to immediately get into bed. This day had gone on long enough. However her eyes fell on someone sitting on her couch.

"Jesus Christ, Gemma. What are you doing here?" she exclaimed after identifying her.

"I wanted to talk to you," she spoke, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Dani immediately regretted giving her a spare set of keys.

"A call would've sufficed."

She threw her bag on the table, sitting down next to Gemma. Dani knew she couldn't get rid of her before she had that talk she so desperately wanted.

"This is important. It's about you and Jax."

"What about it?" Dani said, sighing softly. She hoped she could've dropped the topic for at least today.

Bruce jumped on the couch, nestling himself on Dani's lap. At least someone would never leave her.

"He still loves you, you know that, right?" Gemma started. "You can't turn your back towards him, not now, not with Abel."

"Oh, so he can cheat and come away with it? I don't think so. I'm gonna let him suffer for some time."

Dani had to admit she really missed him, even after such short time, but she wasn't ready to give in, not yet. He had a lot to prove and to make up to her.

"He fucked up! Probably will never do it again."

"How will I now this for sure? Cheating may sit alright with other old ladies, but not with me."

"You _never_ know for sure. That's what keeps us old ladies on our toes."

Dani buried her face in her hands, not sure what to make of this. After seeing him tonight, she had to admit that she was still very much in love with him, making everything more complicated.

She wanted him back. He was everything she wanted. But how could a relationship work when she could not _trust_ him around other women?

"You are the only one who he has ever really loved, Dani."

"Please don't make it even harder than it already is," she replied, sighing softly.

* * *

**A/N:** I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, hopefully you enjoyed reading it as well :) Also a big thanks for the reviews!

I also want to address the cheating part. You don't have to worry about him doing it again (at least not any time soon). I try to think of as many storylines as I possible can to not make my fic repetitive. Him cheating over and over again must be very boring to read, and also to write. Unless I run out of ideas he might cheat again, but let's just assume that I won't ;) There are a lot of things I want to incorporate in this story and none of them involve cheating (again), so don't you worry :D

Anyway, please leave a review to let me know what your thoughts were about Dani's behavior in this chapter, or about the chapter itself. See you next time! :)


	20. Chapter 20

It had been a quiet morning at the café. After the whole stuff with Jax she decided to throw herself into her work, giving herself as many shifts as possible. It meant that Dani had to work every day from open until close with hardly any time for herself.

The new employee Darren was beginning to get the hang of it, meaning Dani could trust him with making drinks and even baking stuff, as the guy had a real talent for that. Having a new employee gave Lana some time off, which she desperately needed since she was beginning with her finals for her master's degree.

Hearing Lana talk about school made her wish she had gone when she was younger. Returning now was not an option, she couldn't balance the café, school _and Abel._

The little boy still managed to creep into her mind. The night before she found out Jax had cheated on her, she had told him how she could be his legal guardian. How quickly things could change.

"Are you Dani?" a voice spoke. Dani looked up from her work, staring at the woman who was standing before her.

"Yes?" she replied. The woman was tall and slender, with perfectly styled blonde hair. Dani had never seen her before which made her a little nervous. _Harrison is gone, Dani. Let it go._ But she couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

"I'm Agent Stahl, ATF." She offered Dani her hand.

"I have a pot of freshly brewed coffee in just a minute," Dani spoke, already focusing on her work again.

"Oh, that's very kind of you, but I'm not here for that."

That got her attention. She raised her gaze to the agent, raising her eyebrows as she waited for her to speak again.

"I'm here to talk to you about the Sons of Anarchy."

Dani sighed, putting her pen down. Could she just have one hour of the day where she was not constantly reminded of anyone that had anything to do with the Sons?

"I'm not with Jax anymore so I don't think I'll be of much help."

Even after they split up, the law still managed to come after her. All these investigations into the club made her a little nervous that they would find out about Harrison, but the only thing Dani could do was to trust Jax on that part. Probably the only part she could trust him on.

"Oh, you never know. Maybe you still know some things," Stahl said with a half-smile. "Do you happen to know of any _illegal_ activities the Sons might be embarking on?"

"Illegal activities?" Dani said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Nope, don't know anything."

"Come on, you must know _something_. You were Jax Teller's old lady."

"Nope, I got nothing. Jax didn't tell me much."

Did this agent think she was a complete idiot? Everyone knew what the Sons did, but never would she rat on them. Even though she kind of wanted to hurt Jax for what he had done to her, she would never jeopardize the entire club. Only saying one thing could send them all to prison.

"Very well then."

Stahl slid off the bar stool, heading towards the door to leave. She seemed to forget something as she quickly turned around and headed towards Dani again. From her pocket she retrieved a small piece of paper.

"If you happen do remember something, this is my number." Stahl placed her card on the counter. "Don't hesitate to call."

* * *

She tried to finish up as quickly as possible when the café closed. It never stopped surprising her of how much of a mess the guests could make, but Darren had helped her finish up the best he could. Dani was just in time to see Abel during the last visiting hour of the day.

The entire day she had spent thinking about the baby. Growing up without parents had been pretty difficult on her, she didn't want to see anyone suffering the same fate. Maybe she and Jax could keep it civil and she could still act as a guardian for the time Wendy needed to get sober. Breaking up with Jax was one thing, she couldn't just turn her back to the little boy.

The hospital was busy during this time. Her eyes fixed ahead of hers, Dani tried not to bump into anyone while navigating the hallways of the maternity ward. When she reached Abel's room, she abruptly stopped in her track.

Jax was leaning forward against the window of Abel's room, looking in. This was the last place Dani had expected him. Was this the first time he was visiting his son?

He turned his head to see who had been approaching, and when he noticed it was Dani, he stood up straight, rubbing his hands together. It looked like he was looking for the right words to speak, and Dani could honestly say that was the only time she had ever seen him speechless.

"Abel doing good?" Dani asked to break the very awkward silence. She moved closer to the window, standing next to Jax, her face towards the glass window. Dani made sure she kept some distance between them.

"Yeah, the nurses say he can come out soon."

Even though Dani had broken the silence between them, there was still a lot of tension in the room. This was the first time they had spoken since the _thing_, and Dani never would've thought she would find him here, leaving her a bit unprepared for the small talk.

"That's good," Dani said.

"How's everything going at the café?" Jax asked, his eyes fixed on Abel. Dani did the same.

"Busy. But I like that." She obviously omitted the part of a ATF agent visiting her. She needed to keep Jax out of her life as much as she could.

He suddenly turned his body towards her. Jax began speaking, "Dani, about the patch over, I - …"

"Jax, stop," Dani interrupted. "I'm not here to talk about that."

Truth was, she wasn't ready to talk about it. She didn't want to talk about it. This thing needed to rest for a few days so she could find her answers.

Dani was also scared for what Jax was going to say. She knew she still loved him very much, and if he'd say the right thing she would take him back right here and now, and she couldn't allow him to do that just yet.

* * *

Feeling a little bad about what had went down by the hospital, Dani decided to call Juice to ask him if Jax had told him anything about her. She also wanted to know if anything had happened at the party.

The phone rang a couple of time before he picked up.

"Hey," Dani said, smiling softly. There was something about Juice's voice that always made her happy. "I just called to ask you something, if you have the time?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Juice spoke. "Is it about Jax?"

"What else?" Dani laughed a little awkwardly.

"No, he did not sleep with Ima at the party," Juice started, a hint of amusement in his voice. "That's what you wanted to know, right?"

"Damn, Juice," Dani replied, surprised. "You know me too well. But seriously, did he maybe –_ talk_ – about me or anything?"

"Jax isn't really the talking-about-his-feelings guy, Dani."

Dani leaned back, scratching Bruce, who was sleeping beside her, behind his ears. Juice was right. But the fact he confirmed he hadn't slept with Ima made her feel hopeful things could go back the way they were. Maybe he did really regret his actions, maybe Jax could change.

"But he definitely didn't like you talking to that prospect," Juice added.

"Yeah, that was the plan," she replied.

"Your plan worked. He was pretty pissed off."

"I don't know how long I can keep this up, Juice."

"Keep up what?" he asked her.

She rubbed the side of her head. "Not talking to him, avoiding him."

"You don't have to do that," he replied. "You can try to be friends."

Dani laughed. "Friends? I don't think that's an option anymore."

How could she just ignore the fact that she was very much attracted to him? The fact that she loved him? They had been friends for the better part of their lives, but once they got involved it could never go back the way it was.

"Try and talk to him. Just give it time," Juice advised her.

But how was she supposed to do that? It was especially talking that was hard, as whenever she saw his lips moving the only thing she wanted to do was kiss him.

* * *

**A/N:** A little shorter than normal, but I've just come back from a trip to Maastricht with friends so I didn't have much time to write a lot. However, I still wanted to get this chapter out because I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for too long. Hopefully you liked it and please leave a review and until next time! :D


	21. Chapter 21

After mindlessly watching TV for the past hours, Dani decided to go to bed. She had hoped her favorite shows would take her mind off things, but it turned out to be of no help at all. Instead, her mind kept drifting to Jax and the baby.

She had enough of it. The only thing left that she still could try was going to bed. Maybe her dreams were about something else than Jax constantly haunting her mind.

Dani took off her make-up and changed into her pajamas. She had grabbed Bruce and placed him on the bed. Ever since Jax had moved out, Bruce had slept right beside her instead of in his basket in the corner of the room.

Before getting in bed, she quickly picked up the clothes that were laying on the ground to hang them neatly over a chair. When picked them up, she felt a familiar fabric under her fingers. Curiously, she pulled the garment out of the pile, making sure the rest didn't fall on the floor again.

It turned out to be Jax's SAMCRO sweater she loved so much. Her heart started to beat faster as she brought it to her face, taking a sniff.

It still smelled exactly like him and before she knew it, she took off her own shirt and put on the sweater. She sighed, sniffing the sleeve once more. If she couldn't have him for some time than at least she could have his sweater.

* * *

Dani had slept like a baby, not waking up even once. For some reason, Jax had stayed off her mind, and she gave credit to the sweater. It managed to somehow replace himself for a moment now his scent was all around her again.

She kind of regretted giving herself so many shifts by now. Her body ached as she got out of bed, yawning slowly. If it hadn't been for her alarm, she could've easily slept on for another few hours.

Thankfully the sweater still smelled of him when she took it off. Dani had been afraid sleeping in it had wiped his scent away.

She held the sweater in her hands, sitting back for a moment. Suddenly she felt tears coming up. How pathetic was she? Here she was, sleeping in his sweater because she was too afraid take him back. It was clear what her heart wanted, but was she supposed to listen to her head or heart?

* * *

Lana was already waiting in front of the café when Dani arrived.

"You're late," she laughed, leaning against the door.

Dani smiled faintly, putting Bruce on the sidewalk before quickly retrieving some paperwork out of the car. "Yeah, I overslept."

"At least you're here now," Lana said playfully.

Dani handed her the keys to open up while she balanced everything she was holding in two hands. She hoped it wouldn't get too busy today so she could finally finish up all the books that were taking her forever. It was hard to keep her attention to the numbers when Jax's face kept creeping in her mind.

"Shut up and get to work," Dani chuckled.

* * *

She had set up a table all for herself in the back of the store so she could do the books while she could keep an eye on Lana and the store, occasionally helping her when it got really busy.

The amount of customers had dropped since the first week of opening, making everything a little more manageable. On the one hand this meant less income, but it also gave her less stress about everything. It was hard to keep up with the demand, cakes selling faster than she could bake them.

The sound of police sirens in the distance caught her attention. They seemed to get closer, so Dani got up from her seat and walked outside to see what was going on. Police sirens were not uncommon in Charming, but this many were. Judging by the loud noise she figured there were at least 5 police cars approaching.

She was right. About 5 police cars whizzed past the store, heading down the street. Dani knew exactly where that street led to; SAMCRO.

Dani remained motionless for a moment. She wanted to go down the street to see what exactly was happening, but she knew she couldn't. The street would probably be closed off in minutes, there was nothing she could do.

* * *

She remained restless for the next few hours, wondering what was going on. Dani had abandoned the books for a moment, retreating to the kitchens to bake some stuff for tomorrow, but she kept her ears open, trying to distinguish any sirens heading back to the police station. But she heard nothing.

Finally curiosity had taken over, and before she knew it, Dani had dialed Jax's number and was waiting for him to pick up. She _had_ to know what happened, if everyone was alright and unharmed.

"Dani?" Jax said surprised when he picked up.

Dani's heart skipped a beat and all of a sudden she was wondering what she was doing. After what he did to her, she shouldn't care about how he was doing.

"I just wanted to call to ask if you were alright. I saw the cops heading for the clubhouse a few hours ago."

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was complete bullshit, they raided the clubhouse but found nothing."

"Oh," Dani said relieved.

"They picked up Clay but he's already been released. They have nothing against us so they couldn't hold him for long."

"Thank god," she replied. "I was afraid you all had to go to prison or something."

"Nah, don't worry, babe. We always take care of our stuff."

The way he called her babe made butterflies rise in her stomach. She had to end this call before she would say anything stupid.

"I gotta go, Jax. I'm glad you're okay."

"Okay. Talk to you later?"

His voice sounded so hopeful when he spoke that she just couldn't reply 'no.' What was he doing to her?

* * *

The end of all the paperwork was finally in sight. She had put everything neatly in a file on her computer, which would calculate all the difficult stuff for her. There was only one week left to fill in and then she would finally be done. Of course, Dani could've done it much faster if Jax didn't keep messing with her mind.

Dani had already sent Lana home. The store was still open for another hour but because she didn't serve dinner hardly anyone ever stopped by. Secretly she hoped that maybe Jax would come by, seeing how she was doing, but the door never opened once during the entire hour.

"Fucking finally," Dani mumbled, when the last of the numbers had been filled it. She pressed button to calculate everything and then she could go home.

But when the numbers appeared Dani frowned. She leaned forward, squeezing her eyes together to see better. Was the program she was running corrupted or broken? This couldn't possibly be right?

According to the number just calculated, the café was about three thousand dollars short. How could they be short with all the customers they had over the last few months? The remodeling of the café had been expensive, but Dani thought all those costs where covered by the money from her fundraiser.

She leaned back, her heart racing. She already had so much on her mind, this couldn't be added to it. Her finger on the mouse, she scrolled through the file, realizing the numbers indeed were right. They were making a lot less than they were spending.

Dani didn't have to funds to balance everything out. All her savings were put in the café. She still had some on her bank account, but that money was intending for her to live on. How was she going to raise three thousand dollars quickly? She couldn't afford to be down so much.

Her eyes scanned the file once more. How could she never have noticed they had money problems? Every day she had worked had been a busy one with money pouring in every hour. There was no way she could have a loss this big.

The only other thing that popped into mind was that the money might've been stolen. Dani shook her head. Her employees wouldn't do that, would they?

If the money was stolen it would explain the sudden drop, but who could've done it? In her mind she recalled all the people who had worked at the café in the past months. The ones that were here that had access to the cash register the most often were Lana and the new kid, Darren. She was pretty sure Lana didn't do it, but Darren had only been here for about a month.

Dani hated to confront him about it, but she had no other choice. But for the next few days she would try to observe him. Maybe if she kept her eye on him, she could pick up on any suspicious.

* * *

This day had been heavy on her. The moment she got home she let herself fall on the couch, not planning to get up except to go to bed. From Jax to mystery of the missing money, it had been a confusing day.

She was especially surprised by how much she still cared for Jax. Dani had to admit she had been extremely concerned for a moment when she heard the police sirens. She knew SAMCRO took care of things, but they too could slip up every now and again.

There was no denying it. She wanted him back. She wanted him back badly.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi! To make up for the short one yesterday I thought I'd upload another one :) I'm also really proud to say that I have almost 25.000 views on this fic, which is absolutely insane. Thank you so much for following and reading this story.

Also this chapter introduces a new storyline, which I hope you like. I currently have a lot of stuff planned which I'm really excited about. With the rate I'm currently going, this fic could have _a lot_ of chapters. I've only covered about the first half of S1 so that still leaves a lot of episodes/storylines/events still left to cover :)

Please rate and review and I'll see you soon :D


	22. Chapter 22

The footsteps that had entered her café, could undoubtedld only belong to Gemma. Dani turned around, putting down the cloth she had used to clean the coffee maker on the bar. She leaned against the counter, waiting for what Gemma had to say.

"Hey," Gemma spoke. "I got a question."

Before she continued speaking, Gemma turned her body to look around the café, which was empty except for an old guy sitting in the corner. Hehad been staring at the same newspaper for the entire morning.

"It's more of a favor, actually."

Dani raised her eyebrows. A favor usually meant a favor for the _club_. What did she offer that could be of any help to them? Whatever it was, she could hardly turn it down, especially since they had helped her out tremendously with Harrison. Dani was in their debt.

"I'm listening," Dani said, her eyes falling on a coffee stain on the counter. Quickly she wiped it clean.

"The club got some money problems. Maybe you could offer them a loan and help them out, _with _interest of course."

Dani's heart began to sink as she really couldn't help them out with this. After she finding out how many losses she had made yesterday, there was no way she could offer SAMCRO any money. Giving them a loan would probably mean the end of her café.

"I'm sorry, Gemma," Dani started. "I can't."

"You'll get it back! It would really help them out right now," Gemma tried to convince her.

Dani put her elbows down on the counter before burying her face in her hands. She looked Gemma in the eye again, trying to explain herself. "I have some money troubles of myself, Gemma. I can't afford to miss anything right now."

"What do you mean you have money problems? The place is always packed! And after the fundraiser you shouldn't have to worry about the cost of the remodeling…"

Dani shook her head. "I know, I don't know how it happened. I made a pretty big loss this month and I have to sell _a lot_ of cake if I want to cover it. Sorry, I really can't help them out right now."

Gemma smiled softly. "That's okay, baby. If I had known I would've never asked."

"I would've helped them out if I could, you know that."

"I know, sweetheart. But why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you out."

"Only found out yesterday. I really have to keep up with my administration a little better, but it had been so busy over the past few months."

Gemma leaned forward and grabbed her hand. "Dani, if you ever need anything you can always come to me, okay? You are family and we take care of our own."

* * *

With Gemma coming down to the café to ask her for a favor for SAMCRO, Dani had found herself wanting to call Jax again, asking him what was going on. It seemed as if she was thinking of the most random things to give her an excuse to call him.

To try and get her mind off him for once and for all, she was going to do something she had never done before. Dani was going on a blind date with a guy she had met on the internet a week before. Normally she would never jump into things like this, but with the whole Jax-situation she needed this to get her mind off him.

Dani had come to the realization that she definitely wanted him back. But her mind had told her to stay away from him.

The guy she had met seemed pretty decent. He looked nice in his profile picture, and the message he had sent her were actually quite sweet. Compared to Jax he was very different, though. Where Jax was an outlaw, this guy was an entrepreneur like Dani, owning several businesses in Stockton. They didn't even look alike.

Yet Dani had agreed to meet him. Maybe she had acted a little before she had really thought it through, but it was too late to go back now anyway.

She had dressed up in a simple black dress that she also had worn to the opening of the café. Her hair was pinned up and she had kept her make-up to a minimum. If she was allowed to be honest, she had to admit that she was looking pretty good.

To be safe, Dani put her gun in her purse anyway. Harrison was still ever present in the back of her mind, and not having met this guy before, she didn't want to take any chances.

When she heard a car approaching, Dani hastily shuffled to the front door, checking her hair in the mirror really quickly. Not wanting to come across as desperate, Dani waited for him to knock on her door instead of her storming outside.

While her heart was pounding, she opened the door after hearing his knuckles on the wood, flashing him a smile.

"Wow, Dani," Luke said. "You look amazing."

She did not recognize Luke from Charming when she was stalking his online dating profile, but he had told her in a private message that he never really had the time to come down here.

"Thanks," she replied, her cheeks reddening.

It had been a _really_ long time since she had been on a date, and she kind of forgot how it all worked again. Jax hadn't been the going-on-dates type.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and pushed her towards his car.

"Where are we going?" Dani asked, only knowing they were going out for dinner.

"I got us a table at that restaurant in town. Lumpy's?"

He opened the car door for her. Dani got in gracefully, trying not to tip over on her heels.

"That's a nice place," she commented, not being used to this kind of chivalry.

* * *

Luckily there was no one in the restaurant who was affiliated with SAMCRO. Dani was a little afraid she would run into someone she knew and would tip off Jax, but as far she could see there was no one.

They both had ordered their dinners and started talking about their businesses. It turned out Luke owned a couple of clothing stores and was in the process of opening a new one.

"I just reopened my café," Dani spoke, trying to say something as well. For now, Luke had been speaking all the time, making it difficult for her to get a word in. At least this way there were no awkward silences.

"Oh, that's nice," Luke replied. "It's just so hard to chose the color palettes I want to use…"

He rambled on and on about the decoration and Dani had to admit it was getting harder and harder to pay attention. She was very grateful when the waiter interrupted him to give them their appetizer, which Dani dived in eagerly. At least she could eat while he was talking her ears off.

Luke continued talking about all his other businesses before continuing to comment on the restaurant they were eating in. According to him, the place was in desperate need in some modernization.

Dani tried to ignore him, focusing on her food. On the internet he had appeared nicer than he actually was and she made a mental note never to go on a blind date ever again. It was so easy to pretend to be someone else online.

By the time dessert came out, Dani had said about five things, and they were mostly about the food. She had chosen a rich chocolate cake, making her wonder why she didn't sell something like this at the café.

"So, Dani, tell me a little more about this café you're running."

Dani almost choked on her cake, surprised he was asking her a question. Quickly she swallowed her bite of food and put her fork down.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Anything," Luke flashed her a smile.

"It's been open for quite some time now after it had been completely trashed by some _thugs_. But it's all retro style now and it looks really nice," she spoke.

"I would love to see it someday," Luke replied, before continuing about retro themes in marketing.

Dani raised her eyebrows and continued with her cake. Like she would ever invite him. She could already picture him bashing everything she was doing like he was doing with Lumpy's restaurant. There was not a single item in the building he had not yet made a comment about.

She wasn't enjoying this at all, but being as polite as always she decided to patiently finish this dinner, let him take her home, and let it be the end of it.

* * *

After what seemed like an entire day instead of just a couple of hours, Luke had finally brought her home. He had been complaining about the way his steak had been prepared and after a few minutes Dani had zoned out, fixing her gaze on the outside world that was whizzing past.

How could someone come across so differently online? After meeting him in person she had immediately regretted doing this. It seemed like such a good plan at the time, and who knew, maybe she would've met someone she really liked and could've replaced Jax.

But this guy definitely couldn't. Never before had she ever heard Jax complain, even after all he had been through. Being the VP of a club wasn't the most easy task, yet he did it so easily without ever moaning about it.

"Thanks for the dinner," Dani smiled, hoping Luke would stay in the car and not walk her to her front door. But being the gentleman that he was, of course he got out as well.

"No problem," he replied. "We should do this again."

"Yeah," she laughed awkwardly.

They made their way down to the door. Dani unlocked it quickly, standing in the doorway. Her eyes followed him closely as he took a step forward towards her.

"I really enjoyed this," he spoke.

"Yeah, me too," Dani mumbled, trying to close the door a little. "I gotta go now. Have a lot of work to do."

Luke smiled, which made her a little nervous, but she turned around to close the door.

But Luke had placed his foot in between so it wouldn't close.

"Dani?" he spoke. "Aren't you going to invite me in?

Everything was going fast. Before she was able to think Dani had grabbed her gun out of her bag and without looking she pulled the trigger. The way his hand curled around the doorpost and the shadows hit his face, he looked exactly like Harrison. Add his weird behavior to that mix and for a moment she really believed Harrison was standing in her doorway.

When she realized what she had done, Dani gasped, letting the gun fall to the floor. She rushed forward to Luke, looking at the damage.

He had dropped down to the ground and she saw blood pouring from a bullet wound in his shoulder. If she had shot a couple of inches to the right she would've shot him straight in the heart.

"Oh my god," she gasped, staring intensely at the red stains that where forming in his shirt.

"What the fuck did you do!" Luke exclaimed. He was clearly in a lot of pain but Dani's mind had gone completely blank.

The first thing that came to mind was pulling him inside as gentle as she could.

"I thought you were someone else!" she tried to explain, but as the stain in his shirt got only bigger she realized the wound did not stop bleeding.

"Are you crazy?!"

Dani wasn't sure anymore. She could've sworn she saw Harrison and she had reacted immediately. Maybe she _was _going crazy.

Luke was now lying on her kitchen floor. Dani reached for a towel and pressed it against his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She had actually no idea if this worked, but they always did it like this in the movies.

"Hold it like this," she told Luke, starting to really panic. _What have I done?_

"You _shot_ me!" Luke said, like he couldn't believe what just had happened.

Dani retrieved her phone from her bag, dialing the first number that came to mind. Her gaze shifted back to Luke, who was clearly struggling with keeping the wound stabilized. They couldn't go to the hospital with this. She had shot him with an illegal gun, and there was no way in hell she was going to jail.

Finally someone picked up. Dani took in a deep breath, trying not tremble as much when she spoke.

"Jax?" she said, before explaining exactly what had happened.

* * *

**A/N:** So, first of all an apology for the long wait. I've hardly been home the past week so there wasn't much time for me to write. Second of all, what did you think of this chapter! Quite a twist at the end, wasn't it? :) I hope this makes up for the lack of updates a little bit.

I can't promise when the next update will be, as I still have a very busy week ahead of me. I'll try my best to write as quickly as possible.

Please let me know your reaction, and I'll see you next time :D


	23. Chapter 23

When she heard his bike pulling up on her driveway, Dani quickly hurried outside. She had to step over Luke's body, who was still laying on the kitchen floor, softly mumbling to himself. To be safe, she had locked Bruce in her bedroom.

He had come as soon as she had called him. She knew he was the only one who would be able to help her.

She ran outside and waited until Jax got off his bike. "He's in the kitchen," she said, trying her best not to sound panicky. Her heart was racing through her chest and she was still trying to come to grips with what had happened.

Jax nodded and walked past her, continuing on inside. Dani struggled to keep up with his fast pace.

"He's right there," Dani spoke, pointing to the kitchen ground.

Jax kneeled besides Luke, pushing him over slightly to inspect the damage.

"Who are you?" Luke asked, his voice cracked.

"Shut up before I change my mind about helping you," Jax spoke, a definite tone of anger in his voice.

Dani suddenly felt very guilty about calling him. This was _her _date and _her_ problem, yet in that moment of panic, the first reaction she had was calling Jax.

"Where did you meet this guy?" he asked her, not even bothering to look her in the eye.

"The internet…," Dani mumbled.

"If I had known you were some fucking psycho I'd never would've gone and meet you in real life!" Luke hissed from the ground.

Jax gave him a push, right where the bullet wound was. "Don't talk to her like that or this will get a lot uglier than it already is."

His threat made the butterflies in her stomach flutter. Dani made a mental note to apologize to him for all of this once it was over. What she was asking from him wasn't fair, yet here he was, helping her out once more.

"Unlock your car," Jax ordered. "Let's get him to the clubhouse, Chibs can patch him up."

Dani nodded before grabbing her car keys and quickly disappearing outside. Her heart was beating in her chest as she unlocked her car and reared it so it was closer to the house. Jax appeared in the doorway, dragging Luke behind him. Without any trouble he lifted him in the car, and sat down in the passenger's seat.

"Drive," he ordered.

Dani didn't dare to say anything and did what her was told. She put her foot down and let the car accelerate. The sooner they reached the clubhouse, the better.

"So you went on a _date_ with him?" Jax spoke after a little while. Luke seemed to be occupied with not crying in pain to respond.

"Yeah, it was a stupid idea," Dani replied, making a right turn.

"Why did you even do it anyway?"

Dani had said the words before she even realized what _exactly _she had said. "To forget you, I guess."

A little surprise by her own honesty, Dani decided to keep her eyes fixed on the road. She didn't dare to look at him. _I shouldn't have said that_, she thought.

"Are we there yet?" Luke moaned from the backseat.

Jax and Dani spoke simultaneously. "Shut up!"

* * *

Sack and Juice dragged Luke inside. They followed him closely, not speaking a word to each other. Dani began to realize she was bringing all of SAMCRO into this, she was risking all of their lives. If someone found them right now, they would probably all head to jail.

"Put him on the table," Jax said, pointing to one of the work tables in the garage. Juice immediately ran out to call Chibs.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Clay spoke as he watched them in the door opening.

"Dani shot him," Jax replied. "With an illegal gun."

Clay raised his eyebrows before disappearing again. It was obvious he wasn't happy about them being here and Dani began to wonder if calling Jax had been a smart idea. What if she got him into trouble by doing this?

Chibs came soon enough. He moved closer to Luke and inspected the wound. "Prospect, get the medical kit," he spoke. "This should be easy enough to fix."

Dani nodded gratefully, standing by in case they needed help.

"Get a bottle of alcohol, will you darling? He's gonna need it."

She quickly slipped past them and headed for the bar, grabbing the first bottle of alcohol she could find. The label said it was some kind of whiskey, which she guessed would suffice.

"Here you go," she said while handing Luke the bottle. He hadn't spoken much, but eagerly took a few gulps. He let out a sigh after the liquor had entered his body.

"Who is this anyway?" Chibs asked. He ripped Luke's shirt apart so he could access the wound more easily.

"My date…" Dani said a little uneasy, her eyes locking with Jax's. She quickly shifted her gaze back to the bullet wound.

"_Date_?!" Chibs asked.

"Yeah, don't ever mention it again."

And after that no one mentioned it again. Chibs worked on the getting the bullet out, while Juice and the prospect stood by, ready to help. Jax wandered around restlessly, disappearing inside the clubhouse every now and again and reappearing moments later.

For the first time this evening Luke didn't speak a word. Occasionally he took a sip from the bottle of alcohol, but apart from that he did not make a sound. Dani also figured he was a little intimidated by all the 'bikers' around him. She hadn't quite told him about her affiliation with the club, so this must've come as quite a surprise.

"Got it!" Chibs said with a satisfied smile, holding the tweezers up to show them the slug.

Dani extended her arm so he could drop the bullet on a plate.

"Just need to stitch up the wound and then you are good to go."

Luke didn't reply. But Dani knew he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. One thing she knew for sure was that she was never going to hear anything from him again. After bringing him to the clubhouse, he'd probably wouldn't dare ever going to the police with this, and otherwise they still had the time to make that clear to him.

She turned her torso to look where Jax was going. He was heading inside again, shutting the door behind him with a loud bang, making her jump a little.

They all got quiet when they heard Clay yelling inside. He didn't sound happy. He didn't sound happy at all. Dani tried to listen to what they were saying but it was hard to make out.

When she heard her own name her heart stopped beating. Were they fighting about this?

She took in a deep breath, trying to ignore Jax and Clay's fight, but it was hard not to hear their constant battle.

"Don't worry about it, darling. Clay would've done the same if you were Gemma," Chibs reassured her.

His words reassured her a little, but Dani couldn't help but feel extremely guilty for this. Deep inside she knew she called Jax because he'd immediately help her out. In that moment of panic he was the only one who she knew would do anything without questioning her. That was also one of the reasons she loved him.

The fighting seemed to have stopped and Jax appeared again. "Are you done?" he asked Chibs, standing next to him with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Yeah," Chibs nodded.

"Okay, then let's get him the fuck out of here," Jax said. "Sack, you're with me."

Half-Sack dropped the medical supplies he was carrying and immediately went to stand by Jax's side, before helping Luke up.

Jax moved closer to Dani. He's face screamed anger, and she was a little afraid he would tell her off.

"I'll pick you up after I dropped him off, okay? I'll make sure this doesn't blow back on you."

"Thank you," Dani mumbled, but he had already disappeared.

* * *

Dani waited in the garage until Jax returned to pick her up. She would've gone inside the clubhouse, but to be honest she was a little scared to run into Clay. He clearly wasn't happy about her calling Jax, so she thought it was best to avoid him while this all cooled down.

Juice was keeping her company. First they cleaned up all the medical supplies after Chibs had gone inside to clean his bloody hands. After that they just sat around waiting for Jax.

"So you really shot him, huh?" Juice asked.

"Yeah," Dani nodded. It still seemed to unreal to her. She had _shot_ a real person. It had happened by accident, but still.

"Where did you get the gun anyway?"

"Gemma," she replied.

Juice nodded. From who else could she have gotten it?

It made her wonder what Gemma would make out of all this. Dani wouldn't be surprised if she applauded her actions and told her she had done the exact same thing as she would've done. The only difference was that Dani had shot him by _accident_ and not on purpose.

A car entered the lot and drove to the front. That was them. Dani immediately shot up and moved closer to the open garage door. Half-Sack had gotten out of the car and jogged towards her.

"He's waiting for you in the car," he told her.

"Thank you for helping me out," Dani told him before he was able to walk past her. SAMCRO had all come together to help her. It was way too much to ask of them yet they hadn't backed down.

"No problem!"

A little nervous, Dani made her way over to the car. Various scenarios of what Jax was going to say shot through her mind, making her only more anxious than she already was. The thing she had said earlier that day wasn't meant for his ears, yet she couldn't stop herself from saying it.

She slipped on the passenger seat. Jax immediately drove off when she had pulled the door close. Dani didn't dare to speak before he spoke.

"It's been taking care of," he finally said when they left the parking lot.

"That's good," Dani nodded.

She couldn't walk around with this guilt forever. Before she changed her mind, Dani continued to speak.

"Jax, I'm really sorry for bringing you into this. I know I shouldn't have called you but your number was the first one that came to mind. I know Clay was really angry about this and I'll promise I'll never do something like this again."

"What, going on dates or shooting people?"

For a moment Dani thought he was being serious, but when she turned her head to face him she noticed something that looked like a smirk playing on his lips.

"Both I guess," she replied relieved. So he wasn't angry with her?

"The date itself wasn't exactly a success either."

"Good thing you shot him then," Jax chuckled.

"So you're not mad with me?" Dani asked to be sure. She needed a little clarity here.

"Dani, I told you some time ago you could come to me with anything. I had to keep my word on that one."

"What about Clay?"

"He'll come around. Don't worry about it."

* * *

Her house was a very welcome sight after everything that had happened that evening. During the date with Luke she didn't think it could be much worse, but man, had she been wrong.

Jax's bike was still standing on her driveway, so he got out of the car as well. Dani waited as he made his way over to her, handing her the keys.

"Thank you so much for helping me out, Jax," Dani began. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

"Anytime, babe," he spoke with a soft smile.

His hand lingered on hers when he gave her the keys, and when he moved his head closer Dani couldn't bring it to stop herself.

Giving in to her desires, she let her lips crash against his. It was unimaginable how much she had missed this. Her hands moved to his neck while she mad sure she didn't stab him with the set of keys she was holding.

His hands slid down from the small of her back to her ass and back up again. How could this feel so good when it was supposed to feel so wrong? Dani couldn't contain herself as Jax began to lead her inside.

Maybe this wasn't the smartest idea, but after everything that had happened it seemed like the best idea she had had today. If the date with Luke had made one thing clear, it was that no one could replace Jackson Teller.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for all your comments, I loved reading them. I also really liked writing this chapter :) I have currently planned up to chapter 30, so you can expect at least 7 more chapters :) I'm 98% sure I'll continue after that (because chapter 30 basically written around the final ep of S1), because I still have a lot of story lines I would like to cover.

Anyways, please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I guess Jax and Dani are one step closer to coming back together, right? ;)


	24. Chapter 24

When she opened her eyes she found him staring right at her. Dani blinked a few times, trying to focus on what was she was seeing. Had this actually happened or had it been a dream?

But it was definitely Jax who was lying next to her in her bed, his arms wrapped around her and his breath warm on her skin. He was looking at her, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Morning," he spoke softly.

"Hey," Dani replied. She pushed herself upwards. Jax slid his hands off her, steadying himself on the bed while leaning in to give her a kiss.

Her first reaction was to dodge it. Her heart beating in her chest, Dani quickly threw the blankets that were covering her on the ground and got out of bed. She turned her head to look at the time and noticed it was actually a lot later than she had planned. It had been a while since she had slept as well as she did this night, and it was no point in denying that Jax had helped her with that.

She rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to recall everything that had happened last night. From Luke to Jax, she remembered everything. How could this all have happened?

Dani pulled on her pants. "I gotta go," she told Jax a little distant. Out of all the stuff she had pulled last night, sleeping with him might have been her biggest mistake. She had given him _hope_, but most of all, she had given herself hope. Having his body pressed against hers had felt so right. Him stepping up to help her made her regain her trust in him more.

"To where?" Jax asked. She could sense the disappointment in his voice, which only made it even harder to leave.

"Café," Dani continued by putting on her work shirt. "I'm already late."

Jax remained silent while Dani tried to do her hair as quickly as possible. She _had_ to get out of there before she did another thing she shouldn't. Cheating had always been regarded as unacceptable for her, but as time passed was she starting to forgive him?

"You can let yourself out, right?" she asked, not daring to look him in the eye.

* * *

When she thought this day couldn't get any worse than it already was, Gemma appeared at the café. Dani could only hope she didn't know about Jax staying over.

"Hey," Gemma spoke as she sat down on the barstools.

Dani gave her a nod, immediately placing a mug of freshly brewed coffee in front of her.

"I got something for you," she said while pulling open her hand bag to retrieve an envelope, before handing it to Dani.

She raised her eyebrows as she opened it, extremely curious what was inside. As long as it wasn't another bill to add to her growing list of things she still needed to pay off, she was happy.

"What's this?" Dani asked while her eyes scanned the piece of paper the envelope contained. It was a check which would cover pretty much everything she needed for the café.

"A loan," Gemma explained. "To help you out."

Dani shook her head. "I can't accept this, Gemma. You should offer it to the club, they'll probably need it more."

Accepting a loan would only add to her stress. Dani never liked to wait until too long to pay it off and right now she didn't have the money to do it and besides, she still wanted to get to the bottom of this. There was no way she could make a loss, not with how busy the café had been.

"They have already figured something out. You should take it, Dani. Don't wait until it's too late."

Dani knew Gemma meant well, but she couldn't accept it, at least not for now. However she knew Gemma wouldn't leave until she had come up with a good reason for declining it, so there was nothing left for her to do except tell the truth.

She leaned forward and lowered her voice, not wanting anyone to hear. "I don't think I've lost the money due to business, Gemma. I think it's stolen."

Gemma raised her eyebrows as if she was intrigued. "Really?"

"Yeah," Dani nodded. "I mean the café has been busier than before, plus the fundraiser has helped me out a lot, there is no way I could've made a loss. _No way_. It has to be stolen."

"Any idea who did it?" she asked.

Dani shook her head. "No, but I've called all my employees to come in after closing time, and they are not leaving until someone confesses."

"Good. You should get to the bottom of this."

"Don't worry," Dani replied. "I will."

* * *

Secretly she had been looking forward to confronting her staff all day. This needed to get settled once and for all, but she was mostly extremely curious as to who had stolen the money to begin with.

Dani's prime suspect was the new kid, Darren. She would trust the rest of the staff in a heartbeat, there wasn't one of them who she figured could've stolen it. Yet Darren was the new guy and who knows, maybe he was the one who did it.

"Thanks for coming," Dani began. The staff was seated at the bar while she stood behind it, looking each and everyone in the eye.

¨You're probably all wondering why you are here this late, so let me just cut right to the chase."

Dani rested her hands on the counter and slightly leaned forward, her heart beating fast as she was watching everyone's reactions and facial expressions closely.

"There seems to be some money missing. The numbers in the books don't add up and the only scenario I can imagine is that the money has been stolen. Now I don't want to say anyone of you did it, but if the money indeed got stolen, it has to be done by someone who has easy access to the cash register. If you know anything about it, or have seen anything, please speak up now."

Like expected, it remained silent. Dani knew it was though to speak up with all the other colleagues present, but she simply didn't have the time to talk to everyone one on one, and maybe group pressure could make the one who did it talk.

"I promise you, if you speak up now we will settle this and I won't press charges. This doesn't have to get complicated."

Everyone seemed to have their eyes fixed on the counter top, not daring to look at her. With them all not giving anything away, it was hard for Dani to see if anyone was behaving oddly.

Especially Darren looked innocent, while he had been her prime suspect. Why was no one speaking up?

"All I know is I didn't do it," Lana spoke.

"Me neither," Peter, her dishwasher quickly added.

They all seemed to speak up at once, defending themselves, telling her they never could've done it. Dani shook her head as she was trying to think. She couldn't just accuse someone of stealing it, could she?

"Okay, shut up for a moment and let me talk," Dani interrupted, a little annoyed. She had hoped to fix this matter tonight, but then again did anything ever go as planned?

"If you do happen to know something but you don't want to say it right now in front of everybody, that's okay. You can come to see me or call me any time of the day. Please help me out with this because as if money keeps disappearing I might have to fire someone to cover up the cost."

* * *

Her team had left quietly, not daring to speak among each other. Dani knew one of them had done it, it was only a matter of time before the truth would be revealed.

She locked the café after they all were gone, before turning around to head towards her car.

"Something up?" she heard Jax ask. He was sitting on his bike which he had parked in front of her café. How long had he been there?

"Nothing to worry about," Dani replied, laughing a little awkwardly. She hadn't expected to run into him here, but after everything that had happened she could hardly ignore him.

Jax pushed himself upwards and moved closer to her. Her heart started to beat faster with each inch he got closer to her, already dreading what he was going to say.

"I just wanted to talk to you about last night," he began.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna shoot somebody again," Dani replied.

Jax cocked his head to the right. "I wanted to talk about the other thing."

"Oh," Dani spoke. How could she think she could get away with it that easily? Of course he was going to bring it up again, how could he not?

"What are we doing, Dani?" Jax continued. "Do you want me or don't you want me, because you are making it really difficult for me right now."

He was right, but the truth was that she herself didn't even know the answer. Some part of her wanted to take him back right here and now, while another part of her wanted him to prove himself to her.

"I don't know, Jax," she replied, sighing softly.

He nodded slowly, his eyes sad and a little angry.

Dani knew she shouldn't have gotten his hopes up like that. It had been a mistake, yet it helped her realize how much she still loved him. She had still trouble coming to grips with him cheating, yet he had proven his loyalty to her last night. Without asking any further questions he had come over, helping her when she was in desperate need. How many men would've done that for her? Maybe he had changed, and was sincere about him telling her he wouldn't cheat again. Maybe she should give him one more chance…

"Look, Dani," he continued. "I know what I did was wrong, and I'm never going to do it again, I promise you."

He took his hands into hers, looking her straight in the eye. "If you want me out of your life just say it right here and now, and I'll never bother you again."

And that was when she knew. It was like flipping a coin to decide something for you, when you have already made up your mind in the first place. There was no way she wanted him out of her life.

"I don't want that," she spoke softly, her voice slightly breaking. "I don't want you to leave."

* * *

**A/N:** So, thanks for the reviews for last chapter, glad to hear you liked it :) Hopefully I can write a lot tomorrow, so I can upload another chapter. I still have a history paper to finish but I'll probably manage to find some time.

But in other news, did you see the new behind the scenes promo pictures with Charlie for season 7? He has no beard? And E! is talking about a 'clean-shaven' Jax. Not sure what to think about that tbh...

Anyway! Please leave behind a message and I'll see you (hopefully) next time! :D


	25. Chapter 25

When she spotted Jax opening the door to head inside she felt her heart skipping a beat. After he had come by last night, he had stayed at her house again. It felt like they were given a new start, a new way to do everything right. No cheating this time.

Dani smiled softly as he approached. To her surprise, he shuffled behind the bar and leaned in to give her a kiss, his hand on her hip. Him showing his affection in public meant a lot to her. They were getting back to where it was before, but she wasn't quite ready to give in just yet.

"I got some good news," Jax began with a smile.

Dani raised her eyebrows. It wasn't that often she had received any good news lately.

"Abel can come out of the incubator," he continued.

She took in a breath. "Are you serious?" she asked. This was _great_ news. If Abel could come out of the toaster that meant the greatest dangers were behind him. The boy might just live to see a long and happy life.

"Yeah," Jax nodded. "I just came from the hospital, doctors came by to tell me in person."

"That's amazing," Dani smiled before wrapping her hands around his neck, embracing him. His body felt so right against hers, and she really didn't want to let go anymore. If everything would go on the way it was right now, she'd never have to let him go.

* * *

It was the time of the week again. Dani had to fill in all her returns and expenses to maintain her books. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she opened the file on her computer which contained all her data, a big red number in the corner of the screen. No one had come forward yet. It seemed as if none of employees knew anything about the money.

She held her breath after she had finished filling in all the numbers. When the number changed on the screen, she released it. The money had gone down again. It was only by a small number this time, but it still meant she was making a loss.

Dani shook her head before burying her face in her hands. It was already late at night and she had hoped to get a good night's sleep today, but after this she already knew she was going to be up the entire night.

How could this be possible? She had made sure to keep a look out on her expenses this week, making sure she wouldn't go overboard with buying an unnecessary large amount of sprinkles. Yet the money troubles got worse. The only scenario left was that someone was _definitely_ stealing the money. Even after Dani confronting her staff about it, it seemed as if the stealer still had the nerve to continue doing it.

She retrieved her phone out of her pocket after deciding to call Gemma. If anyone knew how to handle this, it was definitely her.

"Hey, baby," Gemma replied.

"Hey," Dani said, her eyes scanning the file on her computer once more. "Remember me telling you about the money that got stolen? Well, I confronted my staff about it, but the money keeps disappearing and of course, no one knows anything."

"Shit," Gemma responded. "You did talk to them?"

"Yeah, I got them all together, told them what was up. No one ever got back to me."

The fact that the stealer was out there among her staff was worrying. It wasn't necessarily the money that was gone that bothered her so much, the one who had been stealing it would probably have a good reason to do it. It was the fact that no one had come forward to tell anything. _Someone_ must know _something_.

"What do you think I should do? Go to the cops?"

"No," Gemma said very definite. What did Dani expect? For Gemma, the cops were a last resort. When everything else had failed, only then would she call them for help.

"You need to figure this out yourself."

"How?" Dani asked, wondering what more she could do. There was no way she could be in the café all the time. She couldn't watch the cash register the entire day, besides, she had to trust her personnel.

"Get yourself some cameras, count the money after each shift. You need to get to the bottom of this."

Dani nodded slowly. "I could do that."

Hanging a camera would be a little obvious, but counting the money after each shift could work. It meant extra work for her, but if she wanted to know who did this, it was the only way.

"Does Jax know about this?" Gemma asked.

"Nope," Dani replied. Their relationship was still a little bit uncertain, after everything that had happened with Luke, she didn't want to tell him this, knowing he would probably act immediately to found out who did it. This time she was going to fix it herself.

* * *

Having to count all the money after every shift meant that she had to work all day everyday. Dani hoped this wouldn't give away her plan to her employees, but she could try.

Dani also tried to limit the amount of staff helping her out each shift. It would be easier to determine the stealer if only one of them was working at the time.

A tall woman entering her store caught her eye, and she immediately remembered her as the ATF agent who had come in before.

Dani sighed, as she wanted to keep an eye out on Darren who was working today and didn't have time to talk about what she knew about SAMCRO, which was _nothing_.

"Welcome back," Dani said snarky.

Agent Stahl flashed her a smile. "Would it be possible to speak to you somewhere private?"

"Why?" she frowned. If this talk wasn't absolutely necessary, she didn't really feel like it. Things were just getting better with Jax, she didn't want to ruin it by saying something she shouldn't to this agent.

"I've got some things I'd like to discuss with you. Is the kitchen available?" Stahl pointed to the door leading to the back.

Dani raised her eyebrows, turning her body to Darren to tell him she'll be back in a couple of minutes. There were a lot of customers in the café, so she hoped he wouldn't steal any money while she was away, as there were plenty of witnesses around.

Agent Stahl followed her in the kitchen. Dani leaned against the counter, waiting for Stahl to start speaking.

"Do you know who got arrested for murder today?" Stahl started, standing opposite from Dani, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Bobby."

Dani gasped softly. Bobby was in jail? Why did no one tell her about this?

"And chances are that Jax was also responsible for that murder. But you, Dani, can do something about that."

Dani frowned and scoffed. "I'm not a rat," she told Stahl.

There was a big chance Jax had something to do with this murder, but she didn't know anything about it and she was not going to say anything to Stahl. Ever since they had split up, Jax had kept her out of the loop. Besides, the last thing she wanted to see was Jax in jail. The things she'd do to keep him out of there.

"I figured," Stahl nodded. "But have you ever heard of RICO?"

Dani shook her head, not sure whether she cared or not.

"Basically, it's when you have something against _one_ of them, you can arrest the_ entire_ group. With only one signature and a witness story, you can put them all behind bars. Free Charming from that biker gang."

"And why the hell would I want that?" Dani asked.

"Put the men who caused the attack on your café in jail. Make sure it can never happen again."

Dani frowned, not sure what Stahl was talking about. "SAMCRO had nothing to do with that attack, that was someone else."

"Are you sure?" Stahl replied, a slight smirk covering her face.

She spoke so confidently, yet Dani couldn't figure out if she was telling the truth or not. The attack was on _Harrison_ not on SAMCRO. Was Stahl bluffing to get her to confess?

"Like I said, I'm not a rat," Dani said again, hoping Stahl would leave her alone.

The fact that an ATF agent was looking into SAMCRO so thoroughly scared her a little. What if she found something that could hurt them all? This RICO case was pretty serious…

* * *

After countering all the money in the cash register twice, Dani came to the conclusion that nothing was missing. Even after leaving Darren alone for a moment, he didn't seem to have stolen anything. Considering Darren was her prime suspect, this was definitely odd.

However Dani decided not to jump to conclusion. Maybe he didn't get around to stealing it today because there were a lot of people in the café. He would definitely remain a suspect until another one had come forward.

When she stepped out of the café to head home, she spotted Tig and Clay riding down the road, the engines of their bikes blaring loudly. Dani's eyes followed them closely and then she remembered about Bobby's incarceration.

Quickly she retrieved her phone, dialing Jax's number. For a split second she thought about telling him about Stahl and the RICO case, but for now she would keep it for herself. With Abel coming out soon, Dani didn't want to ruin the moment with bad news like this.

"Hey," Dani said.

"Hey, babe," Jax spoke. She smiled when she heard his voice.

"Is it true about Bobby?" she then asked.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so," he replied. "But we got our lawyer on the case, he'll be out in no time."

"Okay, hopefully he can come home soon."

"Yeah," Jax said. "How did you know?"

"Oh, some customers were talking about it, don't know where they got it from," she lied, as in truth it was Stahl who told her. "Are you alright? They don't have anything on you, right?"

"I'm fine, darling. Stuff likes this happens often, don't worry about it."

"I'll try not to," Dani chuckled. With one hand she opened her car so she could get it. The sun was already setting. "I gotta go, can't drive and talk at the same time."

"Dani, wait," Jax said quickly before she was able to hang up. "Could you please come over?"

Her heart stopped for a moment. His voice sounded so sincere, so hopeful, that she could hardly say no. However, the more she thought about it, the more she realized she too actually really wanted to see him again.

They were doing really great lately, and the thought of spending the night at his place was really inviting. Dani couldn't wait to press her lips against his again, his body against hers, his hands on her hips.

"I'll be there in five minutes," she spoke, breathing softly.

* * *

**A/N:** So sorry for the long wait. I've been busier than expected. Did you guys see the pictures from the set from SoA? I'm so excited!

Anyway, please let me know what you think and I'll see you next time! :D


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